Fire Emblem The Archanea Saga Part 1: Shadow Dragon
by Einedragon56
Summary: Part 1 of a huge project I am doing to essentially rewrite the Archanea saga of Fire Emblem. These are primarily based on Shadow Dragon and New Mystery over the original games. In this story you will read the events of Fire Emblem Shadow Dragon as I have revised it. I hope you enjoy!
1. Chapter 1: Footsteps of Fate

It is currently the year 1,059 on the Archanea calendar. The entire continent had been swept into a horrible war just a little over 1 year ago, the conflict finding its catalyst in the hands of Gharnef, the Dark Pontifex. Wishing to see the world painted with blood and turmoil, he sided with the Dolhr Empire to overthrow the influence that the Holy Kingdom of Archanea had over the continent. Demanding the compliance of the rest of the continent, Gharnef seized control of Khadein, the desert country near the Northwest coast, the island country of Grust soon joining in league with him as well, baiting the late King Ludwik with easy persuasion. Not wishing to take a stand against the Holy Kingdom, King Osmond of Macedon has given no official sign of Alliance with the Pontifex as of yet, much to the displeasure of his ambitious son Prince Michalis, who was banished by his father himself for wanting to throw away Macedon's loyalty. As things stood now, only the small kingdom of Altea lead by King Cornelius, wielder of the sacred blade Falchion, its neighboring country and trusted ally Gra, lead by King Jiol, and Aurelis, Archanea's neighbor country and a forever trusted supporter. King Cornelius was on march with many of the elite Altean knights to aid Aurelis and Archanea, Gra following at their rear to support them in the battle. "Dolhr dare not turn against Altea, for Falchion was the blade of their destruction!" Those were the words Cornelius had said to his son Marth before he went off into the fray. He now waits for his father's return in Altea castle as fate began to march on…

The sky was a sinister shade of red as it hovered over an upcoming battle, the sounds of heavy armor and the hooves of horses treading through the rough terrain being heard from miles away. King Cornelius of Altea was leading the Altean knights across the continent to Aurelis, where he and the Graan army intended to aid in defending the kingdom from the oncoming invasion consisting of troops from all nations that were in coalition with the Dark Pontifex. Riding on a horse, wearing all white armor, having a deep brown shade of hair, and having the golden blade of legend Falchion in his grasp was the powerful image of King Cornelius, and ever at his side was his advisor, Jagen. It was only a matter of time before they would come face to face with the invading forces, preparation was essential.

"Jagen," Cornelius started, deciding to take a break in their march. The troops behind him stopped as well, standing at attention.

"What is it sire?" The veteran knight replied.

"The battle is sure to begin at any moment, so can I instruct you to make sure everyone is ready?"

"Of course, I'll make sure of it that everyone is ready to give this battle everything they've got!"

Cornelius nodded in approval, gazing forward. Jagen began to assess the situation, going down row by row of troops. Eventually he stopped at a certain hot headed red haired knight who was still only in his teenage years, shaking his head and letting out a sigh.

"Huh? What the hell is that about, old man?!" The knight replied, aggravated by the gesture.

"Ah, Cain… well I'm just worried that you aren't keeping your priorities straight." Jagen replied sternly, ignoring the 'old man' comment for the sake of the upstart.

"What do you mean? This is gonna be the battle of my life! I've never been more prepared!"

"And that right there is what I am talking about," Jagen began, "That grin of yours… this is your first battle without Abel to cool you off, so I find it quite probable that you will get too into the fight and forget that your job is to protect your leige, not throw your life away for sport." Cain drew back aggravated, but no words came out.

"I… t-that's a load of bullshit! I am perfectly capable of keeping my cool without Abel! I'll show you!" He eventually fired back, resulting in a smack on the back of his head from Jagen.

"Foolish boy, you only proved my point," Jagen began once more, "I find it preferable to everyone that you return home alive, or at least not let your hot headed attitude get you killed for nothing! Understood?"

"Yes sir… Understood." Cain said finally giving in, rubbing the back of his head softly.

Cornelius was hearing the conversation, smiling softly to himself. However, the mention of Abel reminded him of his son Marth alone at home with his wife and daughter. He had entrusted the safety of his family to Frey, also instructing Abel to remain there with a small amount of the army to defend the castle should something go wrong. Even with this, he couldn't help but worry about them.

"Marth… I'll be home as soon as I can… I promise…" Cornelius whispered, gazing ever more at the desolate field that awaited them.

Back at Altea:

The scenery of the castle was much different than that of the desolate field Cornelius was on march in. Riding off of his father's parting words, the young prince Marth was in the castle garden with his mother, Liza and older sister, Elice staring at his own reflection, speechless. The prince felt confident in his father's victory, yet something still disturbed him. He didn't know much as only a boy of 8 years old. He barely knew how to defend himself, only having novice practice with a sword. And aside from his family, he didn't have many to talk to. His best friend, Merric, left a while ago to study magic with Wendell, a high bishop from Khadein which was taken under Gharnef's control. He wondered, would he ever see his friend again? Would it be possible that Wendell was training him to serve Gharnef? No. It couldn't be. All of these thoughts were flowing through his naive mind as his sister slowly approached him, resting a hand on his shoulder as she knelt down.

"Marth, you haven't spoken since father left," Elice began in a soft voice, "Is everything alright?" She finished while beginning to rub his back gently.

"Elice I…" The prince couldn't find his words, letting out a sigh as he continued to stare at his reflection.

"What is it?"

"Forgive me for asking…" he began shyly, "But is father going to return?" This question made their mother come closer as well, putting on a fake smile.

"Why of course, dear," Liza answered before Elice could, "Do you not believe him capable of winning?"

"No not at all, Dolhr would think twice before striking him, I know that…but…"

"But what?" Liza questioned, concerned about what he was getting at.

"Well… when Merric left, he said he'd come back too," Marth began, seeming to get even more worked up, "but soon enough Khadein fell under Gharnef's control.. he may not even be alive." As he said this he could feel Elice's hand on his back tense up and waver, the statement shaking her.

"My brother… don't say such things, I'm sure he'll come ba-" Elice began weakly before Marth cut back in.

"What if something similar happens to father? What if Gharnef is too much!?" Elice gasped, Liza being disturbed by such talk of her husband's demise.

"Please excuse me, I need a moment." Liza said before exiting the garden.

"Marth! You upset mother with your suspicions!"

"B-But Elice, you can't tell me that you do not worry as well?"

"Of course I do, but you must hope for the best," she began, now wrapping her arms around him, "my poor brother, why is it that you even have such plaguing thoughts at such a young age?" Marth was speechless. How could he know such an answer?

"Elice… is it possible for a king to save everyone?" He finally spoke after a long silence.

"Hm? What do you mean?"

"Is it possible… to be so strong that you can save everyone?" He asked again, Elice letting out a sigh.

"Marth, it's impossible for everyone to live," she began, "no matter how strong someone is… it can't be helped." This made Marth tense up, him becoming a bit frustrated.

"But why not? When I think of the possibility of Merric, my father, and all of the innocent lives of our country just having their lives taken from them for no good reason… it doesn't seem fair!"

"Marth, I know… but father still yet lives, and I'm sure Merric does too… you mustn't lose hope." Marth then returned to silence, gazing up at his sister now.

"I shall remain hopeful, then… I want to be a son to make my father proud! Perhaps the first step is to conquer my fears!" He said determined, causing Elice to giggle.

"What is so funny?" He asked embarrassed. Elice smiled softly.

"Oh nothing," she began, "How about we go check on mother? Once father returns you should ask for another sword lesson with all of this motivation of yours."

"R-Right." He said finally standing up and began to walk alongside his sister to the exit of the garden.

"Oh my dear brother, I hope your ideal isn't the end of you some day. Wanting to save everyone is plain impossible..." Elice thought in sadness as she walked beside Marth, holding back her tears.

Back to Cornelius:

Jagen had finished the rounds of preparations, returning to the side of his king at once.

"Sire, all men are ready to go at once. After we successfully fend off the invasion of Aurelis we should head to Dolhr at once and be done with this." The veteran knight advised, Cornelius nodding in approval.

"I too had planned as much. Well, without any more delay shall we march on?"

"Yes sire, we shall go at once." They began their march once more. As they did, Cain had eyed the Gra soldiers behind them. They seemed… off. Battle ready, yes, but they were extremely laggy. It was as if they were waiting for something.

All the way behind them stood General Tobias of the Gra army with a sinister grin on his face upon dismissing a messenger.

"All ballista be ready now. Our King Jiol just informed me that Gharnef has arranged for the Grustian army to change their assault. They'll be coming right toward the Altean knights instead!" With this announcement, the troops began to quarrel amongst themselves, causing Tobias to scowl.

"HEY! Do you know what this means?" He shouted, causing them all to go silent.

...And this silence continued. Tobias let out a sigh, before a malicious smirk formed on his pallet.

"It means we are to trap the Alteans like rats! They won't see it coming and will be annihilated in an instant!" Still silence. Eventually one soldier spoke up.

"Uhm, but I thought we were Altea's allies..?"

"I thought we were Altea's allies," Tobias mimicked in an insulting tone before slapping him across the face, causing the soldier to wince in pain before he continued, "Yes we may have been their ally, but things have changed. Don't bring it up to me, if you want to complain I am sure King Jiol will gladly have your head!" The soldiers began to whisper to one another, some considering quitting their position.

"Don't think I can't hear you," Tobias shouted, "If any of you disgraces want to run away, be my guest! Just know I'll personally find you once this is all over!" The crowd went silent again. Tobias then smiled in satisfaction. "No objections then? Good. Now as I was saying, Ballista, prepare to fire and do so on my command!"

As this happened, the Altean knights began to hear marching from the direction they were heading, it slowly getting closer to their location. Upon making it over a hill Cornelius stopped in his tracks, causing the rest of the army to follow.

"What is it, sire?" Jagen asked as he caught up to him.

"The Grustian army…" he simply replied, watching as who they were going to ambush was coming right for them.

"That can't be…!" Jagen said mesmerized by the surprise turn of events, not noticing what was going on behind them.

"Hey! Old man! My liege! Look out!" Cain's voice sounded as a destructive ball engulfed with flames soared through the sky towards their location, them just barely escaping the radius of the explosion as it hit the ground.

"W-What was that!?" Jagen shouted in recoil, the soldiers around them coughing from the explosion.

"I think those bastards from Gra turned on us!" Cain snapped angrily to the surprise of everyone.

"What? Are you sure about this!?" Cornelius replied in an instant as the smoke cleared, seeing for himself the sudden increase of pace from the Gra soldiers behind them. That answered his question.

"Jiol must have let Gharnef manipulate his trust. Unloyal fool!" Jagen spat to the side as he said this, looking at his king for orders going forward. "How do we proceed?"

"At this rate we'll be trapped right in between them if we do nothing…" Cornelius replied, gazing behind him at the Grustian soldiers approaching too. "Jagen, I hate to do this… but I need you to take some soldiers and head home. I'll clear a path in the Gra enemy line and distract them."

"Sire! You can't be serious!"

"I am. If Gra is turning on us here, who knows what dangers await Altea castle. I want you to take care of Marth should I not return."

"Sire, you cannot throw your life away so recklessly, if I didn't know better I would mistake you with Cain."

"Hey, I heard that!" Cain began already fired up once more, "But I'm with the old man on this one. You can't expect us to leave you behind! Especially when those bastards need to pay for betraying us!" Cornelius then let out a sigh, planting his foot down forcefully.

"Look, I know it's hard but… Altea's future rests on the younger knights and the heirs, not mine. I am already old as is and I would prefer it that my son sees tomorrow! Understood? This is a direct order!" Cain and Jagen both nodded reluctantly.

"Very well, sire. But promise me you will return as soon as you can!" Jagen demanded. Cornelius then nodded in agreement.

"You have my word. Have a little faith in me, I won't go down without a fight!"

"Right. Alright, Cain. Gather a few more troops and prepare them to head on out of here!" Jagen ordered, Cain doing so in an instant.

"Jagen… thank you."

"You can thank me once you return to Altea alive, sire." Jagen replied with a smile, turning his full attention to the soldiers from Gra.

"Alright men! Those of you who are not returning to Altea will stay with me! We must ensure an escape route for them, and only then may we follow! Understood?" Cornelius commanded, receiving a "yes sir!" from his troops. Cornelius nodded in return, marching to the front of his army as they turned around to face their traitors.

"We only have one shot at this! Now let's charge!" Cornelius ordered, mounting his horse as his troops began to charge into battle towards the Gra soldiers, Jagen and Cain's smaller group following close behind. In the distance, Tobias was grinning with delight. The pack was coming right to him. He could get all the credit for destroying Cornelius and securing Dolhr's victory after all.

"Alright men, it seems they have caught on to their situation. No matter, we will intercept them at once!" Tobias ordered, the ballistas firing another round as his troops advanced. The Alteans avoided each ballista with slight difficulty, charging onward as Cornelius now resumed position of the front of his force.

"General Tobias! You and your king will pay for turning your backs on us!" He threatened right before their armies collided.

"Maybe I will, but I won't go down so easy you old fool! I am not going to waste my chance to get myself a big promotion from King Medeus of Dolhr himself!" He snickered, turning his back on the battle. "Continue firing."

However, despite his confidence, Cornelius pushed a tight path between the troops, Jagen leading his small group through the gap.

"Do not waver… we must keep pushing!" Jagen ordered, moving right by Tobias at full speed in direction of Altea castle.

"H-Huh," Tobias's eyes widened as he turned around to see the tiny gap in the front so early, "How are they making is so far already!?" He turned his attention back to the fleeing troops, letting out a scowl as he made his decision.

"Men, you keep holding off the King and his men. I will chase those fleeing cowards down! Jiol will never forgive us if we let anyone escape!" He demanded with frustration, charging towards Jagen.

"Damn it!" Cornelius cursed out, watching Tobias charging after them and perhaps costing the whole plan, leaving the front to begin a pursuit of the general as well. However, as Tobias was charging a cavalry soldier came out from a carved out space of a mountain, slashing at Tobias's side with a sword.

"Taste this, you dirty bastard!" Called out a familiar voice as Tobias recoiled from the blow, a small amount of blood dripping onto the ground.

"W-What… w-why you…?!"

"Cain! What are you doing here?! I thought I told you to escape with Jagen!" Cornelius cried out, half angry but half relieved.

"Sorry, sire. I had a feeling this cheap sellout of a general would leave his soldiers to go after some runaways!"

"Sellout of a general?" Tobias scoffed, striking at Cain with his lance to where he barely dodged, "Let's see how you fare against me then, low knight!" Cain was about to charge into his bait until Cornelius placed a hand on his shoulder.

"Cain, you already lost your cool by staying here, so I would prefer that you not get too reckless now that you're here. We still wish to return home after all, right?" He advised, Cain gazing up at him before taking a deep breath.

"You're right, and it looks like the battle is moving towards us."

"Indeed, let us crush Gra before Grust can even reach us and move on out of here!" Cornelius commanded, attempting to rally all of his troops back to them.

"Hmph! You forgot I am here, I wil-" Tobias began with a cocky tone before Cain and Cornelius turned away from him to join back with the rest of the battle, "huh?! Where are you going?!" He began to eye the fronts, becoming increasingly nervous. There was no way Gra could defeat Altea with their king on the battlefield by themselves. Especially with this raised morale. He watched as troops from both sides fell, but it was increasingly obvious that Cornelius would come out as victorious. Tobias then glanced over to his still in tact ballista line, charging over to them with frustration.

"Men! Why have you not shot anything since many a minute ago?!" Tobias pressed, choking one of the men arming the weaponry.

"W-Well sir… if we shot now, we would risk hitting our own men… the enemy knows this, sir." The soldier replied weakly before Tobias let go.

"Who cares?! Fire everything it takes, I want to see Cornelius dead!"

"But sir-"

"DO IT NOW!"

"I… very well…" the soldier replied as he reluctantly prepared to fire his ballista, many others following in example. Mere seconds after Cornelius had just finished off an enemy troop did he notice many flaming balls of huge ammo soaring towards them, eyes widening as there was no way to escape its range in time.

"Men take cove-" The ammo all crashed into the earth they stood on at once, all sorts of smoke and rubble being hurled into the air as a result. Tobias simply grinned as he detected no sign of life from the aftermath.

"See that wasn't so hard. Well, what's done is done. Let's go home to Jiol and tell him how under my leadership, Grust wasn't even needed to defeat Altea." His soldiers didn't move, however, staring into the clearing destruction. "What the hell are you doing? Let's go!"

"General Tobias…" Cornelius's voice began, "You never cease to amaze me with how low you will stoop to ensure victory."

"W-What!?" As the smoke cleared, a bloody but still standing Cornelius, Cain, and a few surviving knights appeared in front of the remaining Gra front.

"Unfortunately for you, you didn't get a direct hit where it counts. You killed countless of your men in this disgusting act, yet I still stand. You have lost, Tobias. Give up now." Cornelius threatened.

"Curse you!" Tobias shouted violently, realizing the odds were stacked against him. There was no way he could win now with only his few troops remaining against King Cornelius.

"What kind of low and cowardly bastard will throw away the lives of his own troops anyway? Do you not value anyone but yourself?" Cain insulted, clenching his fist in anger. "My lord, let's end this miserable excuse of a commander before heading home!"

Cornelius nodded in agreement, the nearby mountain side providing an ominous shade for the battlefield. His eyes narrowed at the arrogant general. There was no way he could let a man so lacking of knightly virtue ride home and put valiant lies to his filthy name.

"What say you, Tobias? Do you give up, or do you wish to lose your life to folly? The choice is yours." Cornelius offered, the Grustian army getting closer. They needed to act quick. Tobias's gaze scanned the Alteans when he stopped at Cain, getting an idea. He smirked to himself, holding his lance tightly in his right hand.

"Well it really does seem like you have beaten me, though perhaps a fitting end for a knight like me would be better in death, don't you agree?" He began to reason with a false aura, grinning maliciously once more.

"Like hell you deserve a virtuous end!" Cain began, "This past hour has given me all the time I need to realize you bring shame to all knights. You have no right to even request such a virtuous end!"

"Is that so? Ah, well that's too bad. Does that mean you believe yourself incapable of defeating me in combat, lowly knight?" He taunted, gaze still fixed on Cain.

"Not at all! I could beat your ass anytime I wanted!" Cain began to get heated, on the verge of attacking.

"Cain… mind your temper." Cornelius quickly advised, seeing a weakness in his composure form. "I know how you feel, but you must not be reckless." He nodded, but his body remained tensed up as he had a hateful gaze fixed to the Gra general.

"Backing down are you? My, for someone who likes to call me cowardly, why… you seem to be rather hesitant!" Tobias continued to press him, wanting to use his anger to his advantage.

"S-Shut the hell up! You don't have any right to lecture me!" He replied unsure of himself, his loss of composure now evident. He was breaking under the temptation to beat his face in, knowing it wasn't wise to act so rash when victory was in sight.

"Hmph. And how is it suddenly you who is the beholder of the definitions of right and wrong? You are a mere lap dog of that king you serve," Tobias's gaze narrowed on Cain as he continued, "Who knows, maybe once you stop being useful he'll throw you out?" This was enough for Cain, he lost all restraint as he began to charge towards Tobias at full speed, eyes full of hatred.

"Cain, no!" Cornelius cried out, beginning to move after him.

"You sick bastard! You dare lack another man's liege at the arrival of your defeat?! You bring nothing but shame to a knight's honor!" Cain shouted out in hatred, charging even faster as Tobias simply grinned. "I'll kill you where you stand," he continued, slashing his sword directly at the arrogant general, it barely missing him. Tobias simply mocked him, dodging his next blow as well.

"You bastard, stop dodging like a coward!" Cain called out amongst his hated filled swings, each one more powerful and closer to hitting its mark than the last. As Cornelius got closer, Tobias smirked, realizing his plan was working.

"Very well, I suppose I owe a fellow knight that much, eh?" He mocked, swinging his lance around at a clear opening left by Cain, piercing the hot headed knight in the shoulder of his sword arm, leaving him unable to use it any longer.

"D-Damn it!" He cried out, his guard completely open as Tobias rounded for a killing blow, his life flashing before his eyes.

"Looks like I got too careless after all…" he thought, closing his eyes to the regret that awaited him. However, right before Tobias's lance reached Cain, Cornelius shoved him out of the way, taking the lance to his chest before leaving a clean cut across Tobias's torso with Falchion, the general falling to the ground as blood from both him and Cornelius covered the ground.

"Cornelius… my lord, why did you save me? You took a mortal wound to the shoulder to save me from my own careless actions…" Cain groaned out dumbfounded, already feeling unworthy of his life.

"Because… the future of Altea rests on the younger knights…" Cornelius forced out as Tobias's lance wedged into him was the only thing keeping him from bleeding out. The surviving Altean soldiers came to Cornelius's side, the Gra soldiers moving up as well.

"But my lord, you might die from that wound…"

"Don't lose faith yet, we can still win this and return home." Just then Tobias stood up, clutching onto his side.

"Actually, I had quite the contrary in mind. Ballista, prepare to fire. Men move in on the sorry sight of the king." He ordered, the ballista being prepared once more as the remaining Gra soldiers overpowered and killed the remaining Alteans, also taking the weakened Cain away from Cornelius's side as they held him in a full nelson. Things were now turned against them as a weakened Cornelius was surrounded.

"Damn, this is all my fault…" Cain murmured, looking down in shame.

"Naturally," Tobias taunted, moving closer to Cornelius, "So great king, any last words to grace the history books?" Cornelius remained silent, gazing hatefully at the general.

"None? How disappointing. Well le-"

"What are you going to do to my family?" Cornelius finally asked, his voice soft with desperation.

"Eh?"

"Don't play dumb! What are you traitors going to do with my home and family!?" Cornelius demanded once more.

"Well, let's see… Ah yes, Jiol and Gharnef had sent another party to invade Altea while we were here. Figured I should tell you that before you die… I kind of forgot." Tobias grinned, letting off a cynical laugh.

"Bastard!"

"Ah, don't worry, I'm sure you'll see your precious family in hell soon enough!" Cornelius gazed down once more, not knowing what to do at this point. He let out a sigh, looking directly at Cain now.

"Cain, I need you to get out of here and head back to Altea as fast as you can!" He ordered.

"But Cornelius, what of yours-"

"Forget about me! I want you to protect Marth at all costs, do you hear me? It is my final order to you as your lord." Tears then came to Cain's eyes as he listened, mixing with the dirt and blood on his face.

"No way! I can't abandon you now! Sir, I simply won-"

"Cain! Please! Grust is almost upon us now! The world is still in need of a savior and it must be him! I cannot go on any longer. Dry your tears and return… tell Marth, the future is in his hands now and that he must rise where I have fallen, defeat Dolhr in my stead... that he was born into greatness and now he must be great… and lastly that I'm sorry…" Cain closed his eyes violently, Tobias simply watching the exchange back and forth with an amused look on his face, laughing at the spectacle.

"This sounds so tragic and so empowering! Bravo! Too bad you forgot one fatal error. How the hell do you expect your little knight to escape?" He taunted, the ballista now ready to fire. Cornelius simply smiled softly, gazing at Cain's position in front of those who armed the ballista, tracing its aim to the mountain side behind him.

"With a little help from-" Cornelius began, ripping Tobias's lance out of his chest, "-you, general!" Tobias's eyes widened as Cain snapped back into reality, blood spilling out of the now open wound in Cornelius's chest.

"My lord, no!" Cain called out. It was too late. Cornelius had thrown the lance as if it were a mere javelin, it stabbing the soldier at the ballista, causing him to stumble backwards and release the ammo, it hurling right towards the mountain side as the collision caused a massive rock slide. Amongst the confusion, Cain slammed his elbow into the soldier holding him, able to break free to gaze at Cornelius and Tobias as the rocks fell around them.

"My lord!" Cain called out, only to see Cornelius wave to him with a sad yet satisfied look on his face. He looked away, knowing he needed to redeem his liege's final request.

"I must go to Altea now!" He thought, gazing behind him to see Grust's army closing in. He began running over to his horse when Tobias began to pull himself out of the growing pile of rocks.

"I am not done yet!" He cried out. Cain turned around, and although it hurt him, he picked up his sword and charged right towards Tobias, stabbing him right through the heart.

"Go to hell!" Cain then pulled his sword out, wincing with pain as he kicked his body down into the rock slide, the ground beginning to break beneath them. He ran back to his horse now, looking back once more. Holding in his regret and tears, he escaped in the direction of Altea, barely escaping the Grustian army that followed behind. Cornelius watched as the rocks crumbled down, making peace with himself as everything went to darkness…


	2. Chapter 2: Escape from Ruin

After his time in the garden, the young prince Marth was attending to his personal studies in his private quarters… at least that was what he had told his sister he would be doing at this time. On his writing desk there was a map of the entire continent laid out for him to see. In truth, all the angst for his father's departure had him obsessed with tracing their intended route across the map. He would trace his feather pen across the map and would stop at every point that a battle seemed possible with the final battle being in Dolhr to Altea's southeastern direction. In Dolhr, his father would face off against Medeus, the shadow dragon himself, where he would once again be slain by Falchion! At least, that is what his young brain had gathered from his father and various banter among the soldiers. Marth tried to imagine what it would be like in every skirmish his father would surely face, but of course it was impossible for him to comprehend.

"Prince Marth… Are you awake? Begging your pardon, sire, but the princess has asked to see you." A knock came at Marth's door accompanying the voice, causing him to snap back into reality after being so entranced in his map.

"Y-Yes! One moment please!" Marth replied from the other side of the door, stumbling to his feet. He motioned over to the door before opening it slowly, gazing at a castle soldier who was out of breath. "Elice wants to see me? Is she alright?"

"She seemed to be, sire, but her words implied a certain urgency," the soldier informed, stopping to catch his breath, "She bade you dress quickly and wait by the throne."

"It certainly must have been urgent if it pushed you to come all the way over here so fast… Has something happened?" The prince's tone was now nervous as a feeling of concern rose within him from the implications of the news.

"It's our forces off to Aurelis, sire. There seems to have been some sort of incident, but…" The soldier paused, looking to his side as if he was embarrassed, "Well, I'm not privy to the specifics." Marth's heart had sanken from these words, his thoughts going to his father.

"I see… Thank you. I'll be there shortly." Marth replied, watching the soldier walk off. What had happened during the army's march? Had his father lost? No, it couldn't be. Perhaps it was good news that the war had already come to an end! Yes, that could be it! Regardless, Marth put on his boots and grabbed his rapier just in case, heading out of his quarters to make his way to the throne.

"This incident in Gra," he thought, "Whatever the news is I hope it's good news…" As he approached the throne, the castle was awfully quiet. It was as if nobody was there, hell he hadn't even seen that many castle soldiers on the way here. As he was about to reach the throne an unfamiliar voice boomed behind him.

"Over there, that's him! Prince Marth!" Marth turned around in response to the voice, seeing another soldier, however this one had armor different than that of Altea's. Was it an intruder?

"Who are you?!" He asked in a shout of surprise, confusion, and slight terror. As he continued to eye the soldier he slowly slid his hand to his sword in its sheath, having a bad feeling about the situation. Other soldiers were coming up behind as well, there being about 3 of them.

"We're soldiers of Gra, little prince. And if you know what's good for you, you'll surrender to us without making any trouble!"

"Surrender? But that's ridiculous… Why would I surrender to the army of an allied kingdom?" Marth asked utterly confused, getting extremely worried now, beginning to draw his blade.

"Heh… They don't tell you much, do they? No matter," the soldiers began to get closer, "You'll have the full story soon enough! Now lay down that sword!" Marth decided to do what his father would do, even if he was utterly terrified.

"I will not," he began with an upright and confident stance, "I am the prince of Altea. I will not yield to you or any other nation, here on my land, under my own castle roof!" As he spoke sweat dripped down his forehead as this little brave stunt of his could easily get him killed and he knew this. The soldier simply grinned, getting even closer.

"You talk big, brat. Admirable. Have it your way. If you won't lay down your sword, then we'll just have to take your life instead!" With this, Marth got into a battle stance that he had learned from his father, challenging the soldiers to attack. He might die here, but at the very least it may give other innocents the chance to escape. He was the son of Cornelius, not just some push over! The soldiers gazed at each other, chuckling at his defensive stance.

"Oh? You challenge us? Instead of running away, you challenge us?" One of them taunted, Marth's gaze narrowing in on them showing he was indeed serious.

"Very well, then. Don't blame us when your blood is all over the castle corridor!" One soldier said, charging right at the prince. Marth took a deep breath before successfully parrying the blow like he was taught before swinging around and delivering a strong but not fatal blow to the soldier, them falling to the ground with a groan.

"The hell…? How did this little brat do that?" One of the other two grumbled in response, circling around the prince cautiously before blocking his path to the throne.

"I guess I'll have to fight them to get to the throne after all… If I stay calm, I can win this…" Marth thought, staring the remaining two down intently.

"You just got lucky, kid! I dare you to try that again!"

"Why don't you first?" He mocked in an attempt to bait them out, it evidently working as both came at him at once, Marth swiftly dodging their angry and sloppy footwork, delivering a powerful blow to both of their backs before making his way to the throne.

"Almost there…!" He thought before spotting another soldier out of the corner of his eye, them heading right toward the throne.

"I commend you for fighting back, but it ends here!" The soldier shouted with rage, blocking his path.

"No! I need to be rid of you before my sister arrives…"

"Sorry, ain't gonna happen you brat! But hey, maybe if your sister's cute I'll keep her alive and make her a good souvenir! Haha!" This statement enraged the prince so much that he charged right at the soldier without wasting even a second, slicing right into him before he could even defend.

"Damn brat..."

"You will not speak of my sister that way! This will teach you a lesson!" Marth yelled in frustration, the soldier falling to the ground.

"Marth," called a familiar feminine voice, "are you alright?" The prince gazed to his side to see his sister, Elice, tears coming to his eyes to see that she was okay.

"S-Sister! Thank goodness you're safe! W-What is going on here?" He asked, unable to control himself.

"Steady yourself, Marth. I have grave news. Our father… was defeated by the Dolhr-Grust allied forces…"

"W-What? How can that be…?"

"It was the doing of Gra. Our own ally betrayed us and struck Father's forces from behind. I am…" She paused, trying to hold back her own emotions, "I am not sure if he is safe. The scouts who returned gave conflicting reports… They had no sight of sir Jagen or our father anywhere on the battlefield…"

"Father… It can't be…" Emotions flowed through Marth violently at this news, his tears for his sister's safety running dry, but only because of the weight of the tragedy he had heard was too much for him to handle.

"As we speak, soldiers sent by Gra are trying to take the castle. Mother and I were separated during the escape… I-I do not know where she is." Elice's words began to crack as she continued, the young prince only able to stay silent as he took it all in.

"Marth, I need you to listen to me. You must flee the castle, go on without me…"

"W-What?! No, I can't!"

"Please listen! We've not many soldiers left… This is hard to bear, I know, but the castle is lost. We must face that. I will look for mother and join you as soon as I can! You must go find Frey and Abel, have them lead you to Jagen if he still yet lives and get away from here- far away." She looked away not wanting to face what sort of betrayed look her brother must have had. "...Understand?"

"...All right. But promise you won't be long!" Marth said, embracing his sister tightly before running off, holding back his tears with great strength.

"Goodbye Marth… may you live long…" Elice said softly, unable to hold back her own tears any longer.

"You done with your little pathetic show?" Asked a deep voice, sounding as if it came from all directions.

"Who goes there?" Elice replied, gazing down the stairs that lead up to the throne to see a cloaked individual making his way up them. Her stomach began to sink as the aroma shrouding him reeked of pure sin.

"You truly are the princess, aren't you? You look just like the queen."

"W-What did you do to my mother?!" Elice shouted, her voice full of dread. Her strong face began to fade as terror filled her being.

"Rather than tell you, perhaps I should demonstrate?" The cloaked individual then let out a chilling cackle of a laugh, blue glowing eyes peering out from under his hood, them gazing right at her. As the figure drew closer Elice fell into acceptance, closing her eyes as she didn't want to see any longer.

"Brother… I'm sorry…"

Back to Marth:

The prince ran as hard as he could, not even taking a second to look back. It was hard, but he needed to run. His mother, his father, and now his sister… how had he managed to lose all in one day?

"Sire!" A voice called out in his direction, it very familiar. Marth looked over to see Frey and Abel coming in his direction at high speeds on horseback, relieved to see they were still alive.

"Frey! Abel! You're still alive!" Frey and Abel were two of the best knights the Altean army had ever had, Abel being a mere upstart as well. He was calm and acted as an effective opposite to Cain which is why they have been battle partners ever since training in the academy. Frey on the other hand was in his early 30s, carrying an often cold and almost detached expression most of the time and never opened up to anyone on a personal level. Despite this, he was as loyal as they come and is even princess Elice's personal knight, serving Altea diligently.

"Yes, sire. Princess Elice bade us protect you. We are in route of the exit, we should move as quickly as possible." Abel said with urgency as he spotted Gra soldiers making their way down to their level of the castle.

"Elice…" Marth had his head down, reminded of the fact that they were separated. "Abel, will she come back?" Abel was caught off guard by the question, unable to hold a straight face as he gazed into the prince's eyes.

"Well I-"

"Please tell me she'll be alright!" Marth pleaded, starting to tear up once more.

"Sire," Frey's voice sounded as it cut off the prince, it cold yet threaded with urgency. "We must act quickly. I hear Sir Jagen awaits us at the gate! The time for tears is later, we must not let him pay for our sadness with his life!" Abel looked over at Frey not surprised by his tone whatsoever, but he was right.

"Jagen still lives…? Very well then, you're right. Let us go then!" The prince rubbed his eyes before beginning to run to the exit, Frey and Abel at both sides of him. Archers peered over the walls from above, attempting to reign arrows down on the three, just barely missing them as they moved by.

"As I thought there are soldiers waiting at the exit," Frey began as a group of men bearing the Gra emblem on their armor crowded around the exit, "We must make one decisive strike or else Jagen and the others will be trapped like mice! There's no telling when they will call in their elite!" Marth nodded not hesitating for a moment as he ran right up to a soldier, striking them down where they stood. Safety was only a secondary concern, they needed to move fast. Soldiers came right for Frey and Abel but they were outmatched, Frey blocking the hit with ease before making a clean and decisive blow with his lance right into their chest. Abel took a clean shot from afar with a javelin, it piercing right into the soldier causing them to fall to the ground in pain, him skillfully retrieving the spear from the soldier's body as he rode by.

"The exit is just a bit farther, sire. Don't slow down now!" Abel advised, Marth nodding as he pressed on. As they were about to reach the castle gate a soldier wearing heavy army rounded the corner causing them to halt in place.

"Where do you think you lot are going?" The soldier, who appeared to be a higher up, sneered, giving a signal as a bunch of archers took aim at the three from above. Trapped.

"No! Is this the end…?" Marth gazed around, seeing the other soldiers closing in from behind.

"Looks like you caught on. You know when to quit, that's good."

"It's not over just yet, my prince." Frey began, "Abel, you and I will flank him from both sides an-"

"Spare yourselves the effort," The general chuckled in amusement, "King Jiol would be very pissed if he found out I just let the future king of Altea just walk right by me!" Frey and Abel tensed up, Marth beginning to fall into hopelessness. This couldn't be it! Just then, a lance stabbed right through the general, it cracking his armor on the other side as he let out a scream of pain.

"Is that so," began the voice of an older man, "Well unfortunately I'm already more angry than your king could ever be!" As the general fell to the ground, the figure of Jagen became visible directly behind him, a few other altean soldiers rushing in with javelins in hand, taking perfect shots at the archers above them.

"Jagen!" Marth cried, running over to him, "You still live!"

"Don't underestimate me my prince," he chuckled, "These old bones won't hold me back just yet!"

"Yes, of course." Marth laughed in return. Abel and Frey, although he wasn't exactly smiling, were delighted to see the veteran knight too. However, Abel's smile began to fade as he could not find his partner among the knights who returned.

"Jagen, where is Cain?" Abel asked concerned. Jagen looked at the green haired knight in sorrow and disappointment, letting out a sigh.

"He was supposed to come back with me from the field, but about halfway here I turned around and… he was gone."

"I.. see…" Abel said solemnly, struggling to keep his emotions in check.

"Cain's dead…?" The young prince mumbled out, hoping it wasn't so.

"That's the most likely event, sad to say. I would like to assume it wasn't out of an act of carelessness… Perhaps he couldn't abandon your father, Marth. He really was a true knight til the end." Jagen answered reluctantly, placing his hand on Marth's shoulder to provide some sort of comfort.

"Y-You shut your damn mouth… old man!" Called out a voice all too familiar to the knights, them looking over to see the bloody and half broken sight of Cain as he slowly made his way over to them, leaving a red trail.

"Cain!" Abel called out, excited to see his friend still lived.

"Cain, I-" Jagen began before getting cut off.

"I told you to shut your damn mouth!" Cain said again before coughing up blood. "There was nothing… knightly about what happened back there! Do you hear me?!" As he continued his voice became less angry and more remorseful as it seemed a wave of regret came over the hot headed knight. Abel and Jagen remained silent as Cain got closer.

"Cain! Those wounds, what happened?" Marth asked worried, Cain turning his attention to the prince, his eyes widening as if being shook to the core.

"Sire… Thank goodness," He said in a suddenly soft tone, trying hard to keep his balance. "That his majesty's message would go undeliv...agh…!"

"Cain! Please, save your strength. Those wounds… I don't even know how you managed to make it all the way back here with damage like that." Cain then fell to his knees in front of the prince, his head down in shame.

"Sire… I-I'm sorry… I couldn't save him…" he said almost inaudibly. Marth frowned, knowing what he meant by this, but forced a neutral look to stay strong.

"It's okay Cain, I'm sure you did everything you could." These words made the red haired knight raise his head to look at the prince, but as he looked into his eyes a mass flood of tears came down that mixed with the blood, him beginning let out soft groans of despair. The undeniable disappointment in the eyes of Marth was enough to drive him insane as the tears continued to flow and his groans became louder.

"No! Sire! Y-You don't understand!" He began to cry out, Abel looking away from the sight. "Don't e-excuse me, I…!" Eventually the guilt became unbearable as he couldn't look into the eyes of the prince any longer, them cutting right through him. "If it weren't for my carelessness, your f-father… he… he might have still been…" he lost control of his emotions, his groans turning into dreadful wails in the presence of the prince whose father he left to die. Everyone was quiet as Cain cried out his soul, including Marth. After a few moments, Marth placed his hand on Cain's shoulder, him becoming softer now.

"Cain, I know it must be hard, but I know you wouldn't have come back here unless my father gave you a good reason… So please, stand up and let's get out of here before those untreated wounds take your life. I don't want another person to die today." He told him softly, the red haired knight beginning to pull himself together.

"Sire is right," Frey finally spoke, "We must get out of here now! The enemy is upon us now!" Cain nodded slightly, beginning to stand up with the help of Abel.

"Sorry about that sad show…" He said softly, looking away from Marth.

"Don't worry about that now," Jagen began, "We can talk once we are somewhere safe!" They all nodded in agreement, beginning to move away from the castle and once they were a decent distance away Marth stopped and turned to take one last look at his home as it fell to ruin. However, no tears came from his eyes, only a look of emptiness accompanied by an early onset of vengeance. And upon seeing this look on the prince's face, Cain knew that he could never truly forgive himself for what happened…

All that was left of the battlefield where Cornelius faced off with Tobias was a steep hill of rocks along the mountainside, an eerie silence in the air as it was completely devoid of life. This long silence was then interrupted by the sounds of rock breaking from within the hill until eventually a hand came out and slowly pushed aside other rocks to reveal more and more of an arm. Eventually it was able to start prying itself out of the ruin, revealing the beaten face of King Cornelius himself gasping for air. Using Falchion, he broke out of the debris, standing on his own two feet, barely holding on to life.

"Like… I was going to die… with that fiend…" He groaned out in a shortness of breath, beginning to walk away from the slope of rocks. "I should… have enough strength to find shelter somewhere, and then… I can recover." He let out an agonizing cough, trying to control his breathing. "Marth… Elice… Liza… don't worry, I'll come back for you… just wait… urgh!" As he continued to walk a shadowy presence loomed over him before eventually materializing in front of him, Cornelius stepping back to gaze at the figure.

"Where do you think you're going, king of Altea?" Asked an utterly hideous voice that reeked of darkness and the most unholy of evil. There was only one person who this could be.

"So… I take it that you're Gharnef?" Cornelius asked in between his heavy breathing.

"How sharp of you! Yes, tis I, Gharnef!"

"Hmph… You're even more hideous than I would have thought…" Cornelius mocked with a smirk. Gharnef frowned before laughing hysterically.

"How amusing! Here you are at death's door and all you have to say are petty insults! You must really not want to live, king Cornelius!"

"You couldn't be more wrong, you unholy freak! I intend to leave here alive. Do not underestimate me, for I wield Falchion!"

"Hoho! Quite the bravado you have, your majesty. Perhaps you should try your might against the Dark Pontifex!" Gharnef challenged, leaving himself open.

"Don't give me such an easy shot! I'll cut you down where you stand!" Cornelius shouted, charging at Gharnef with all the speed he could manage, preparing to take a powerful swing at the fiend. However, as he got closer to him his senses became distorted. The figure of Gharnef multiplied, him appearing to dizzily hit him… yet he didn't see him fall.

"Witness the power of Imhullu, fool!" Gharnef cackled from all 4 directions. Cornelius's sense returned to him to find himself swinging at nothing, turning to see Gharnef behind him.

"What?!"

"Know how truly unmatched you are!" Gharnef laughed before casting a dark spell that surrounded the weakened king, him grinning the whole time.

"What is this… I can't move!" He groaned, trying to fight against the manipulative magic. His life flashing before his eyes before he felt his life energy decaying from within. It was the end…

"Marth… forgive your… foolish father…!" His body was then completely vaporized amidst the dark magic, leaving only Falchion to be seen.

"Praise be to his majesty!" Gharnef mocked, gazing down at the golden blade. "Oh! What's this? Well, I don't think he'll need it where he's going so… I'll just hold onto it!" Gharnef then picked it up, looking at his reflection in the craft, smiling sinisterly before once again laughing hysterically. "Would you look at that! I just became unstoppable! Not even Medeus can stand against me with this blade in my posession! Just you wait, fools! This is the beginning of an era where the world belongs to me!"


	3. Chapter 3: Sacrifice

"Father, who is this man?" A little girl no older than 8 or 9 with long blue hair gazed up with curious eyes at the towering figure before her.

"Why, this is Frey. He is going to be your personal knight from now on." The voice of an older man explained to the girl, nudging her forward slightly. The girl continued to eye the man a little frightened by his lifeless expression, yet some part of her understood what was going on inside of his heart.

"This man… I-I understand." The girl walked closer, her expression changing to a slightly nervous smile as she looked into his eyes. The towering figure then got down on one knee, head faced to the ground as he bowed to not only the princess of Altea, but also his new master.

"Princess Elice… I vow my utmost loyalty to you. May you accept my service." The man spoke softly and without emotion, his cold aura shaking everything around him… except one. The princess placed her hand gently on the knight's head, taking a deep breath as tears began to flow slowly from her eyes.

"Sir Frey… You suffer greatly on the inside, don't you? I can feel your heart… it has been turned ice cold…" She whispered almost inaudibly to the knight, an eerie silence serving as a response to her observation. The knight slowly arose his head to gaze at the princess. Her face could only be described as the pure essence of innocence itself, her warm and comforting gaze cutting into even the likes of him. Before long, however, his vision of her became violently distorted before everything around him was engulfed in flames. He took one last desperate glance at the girl before his vision was returned to the view of Altea castle burning in ruin, a few tears beginning to flow from him as if his emotions that were long locked away had finally begun to escape.

"Lady Elice… Forgive me…" The thoughts of the knight were then interrupted by Cain's groans of pain as he was laid down on steady ground, him immediately being attended to with bandages and other sorts of first aid. Frey wiped his eyes, putting his mask of emotions back on as he gazed over at the rest of the group.

"Cain, you should rest for now." Marth advised as Cain tried to stand up, concerned about the condition of the knight upon seeing all of his bandages being soaked through with blood. The red haired knight let out a sigh before sitting down upright, the pain seemingly fading a little.

"This really wounds my pride more than my body, sire," Cain began, not even looking Marth in the eyes. The guilt was too much. "Regardless, I am sorry again for the scene I put on when we should have been focusing on escaping as soon as possible."

"I wouldn't want you to worry about that, Cain. I'm just glad you were able to stay in one piece. I'm sure father would be glad to see us all unharmed." Marth said with a smile, although his heart truly ached in pain with such a statement. It still didn't feel real, some part of him wanting to believe his father still lived. Despite the pain, he would have to wait a little longer to mourn. This safety was only temporary.

"Sire, about that," Cain began, "We need to talk. I must give you the last message from your father."

"His… last words? I see." The prince answered solemnly, but he knew it must important. However, that reaction only drilled into Cain more as the guilt of even being here alive and semi well became hard to bear.

"Yes, sire," Cain nodded as he spoke with a certain reluctance. "They were as follows: 'Tell Marth the future is in his hands now and that he must rise where I have fallen, defeat Dolhr in my stead... that he was born into greatness and now he must be great… and lastly that I'm sorry…'" Cain finished, the last line in particular chilling him to the bone as he repeated an apology that he believed should only come from himself. It was his own recklessness that left the king in such a crippled state. However, the words seemed to shake the prince as well. Such a heavy weight was placed on his shoulders at such a young age. Could he really defeat the shadow dragon on his own? Such an idea terrified his developing mind. Regardless, it was all true. It was all his destiny now.

"Father. I will try…" Marth murmured, gazing at his own small figure. He would have a lot of work to do before he could even begin at accomplishing this feat. All of this was enough to get Cain feeling emotional once more, him slamming his fist into the dirt.

"Damn it! Sire, I cannot bear this guilt! Such a coward I am to return alone where your father died alongside many of my brothers in arms!" He cried out in fury, clenching his fist as it rested in the earth.

"Cain, please don't get so sad again… I told you that I don't blame-" Cain cut off the prince before he could finish, laughing.

"Sire, you amuse me," he began, "I'm not sad… I'm furious! Furious at myself and all of those bastards from Grust, Dolhr, and especially those filthy traitors from Gra! I swear to you I'll make them all pay and avenge our fallen comrades by kicking the ass of every single one of them, you hear me?!" As he shouted it seemed as a new resolve had been born inside of his heart, his passion as fiery as ever. His words fired up the rest of the knights as well, Abel and Jagen nodding in agreement as Marth put his hand out for Cain, a determined look on his face.

"You speak for both of us, Cain. We'll take them down together, one day we will! So I ask that you serve me until the day comes that I am strong enough to do so!" He kept his hand extended, Cain eventually taking it as he pulled himself up, sensing determination in the 8 year old prince too.

"Naturally, sire. I aim to please." He replied, before going into his own thoughts.

"Though I'm sorry sire," the red haired knight thought to himself, "I plan to push myself to be so strong that I'll never have to run away and abandon you. That is how I can truly make amends with myself… I won't mess up again."

"Well then, sire," Frey began suddenly as he walked over to the group, "I suppose it is time we make our way towards the nearest port. I made arrangements for us to escape to Talys."

"Talys… A small island country to the east correct?" Marth pondered aloud, his mind seemingly forgetting something at the moment.

"Yes, that is right," Frey answered emotionlessly as usual, "Your father apparently had close ties with the king of Talys, so it was always a place available for you to take refuge should the worst come to pass… at least that's what lady Elice told me."

"Elice!" Marth shouted as what he had forgotten in has returned to him at the mention of her name. "I completely forgot! We need to secure a route for her to escape! There's no way she can with all of those troops surrounding the castle." Marth observed in a panic, scanning the view of the castle in the distance as even from here it looked swamped with Gra soldiers. With this, Cain, Abel, and the other handful of soldiers that returned with Jagen lined up for a battle. They were ready for Marth's command.

"That won't be necessary." Frey said simply monotone voice, his expression unchanged.

"What do you mean?!" Marth asked in frustration, confused as to how the safety of his sister could possibly be unnecessary.

"I mean that… Lady Elice had no intentions of escaping." The prince gasped, dumbfounded but also betrayed. If that were true, it meant his sister had lied to him. Lied to protect him, no less!

"That's absurd!" Marth cried in disbelief before beginning to run off in the direction of the castle, Frey grabbing him by the collar of his shirt before he could get far.

"Where do you think you're going?"

"Where do you think?! I will not let my sister die for me!" Marth cried, beginning to squirm. Frey held him tighter.

"Fool! You would die if you went back there!" Frey hollered, refusing to let go.

"I have to at least try," Marth began, still struggling to get out of his grasp, tears coming to his eyes, "Frey you were her retainer! How could you just let her die?!" Frey's eyes widened, dropping Marth to the ground abruptly causing him to land face first in the dirt. He was at a loss for words for a moment, being cut deep by the sword of realization. Yes, he knew he was leaving her to die, she who had made him feel something other than emptiness. It only made it that much harder on him. Marth turned around to gaze up at the knight, shocked to see his usual emotionless face show a look of undeniable despair.

"Frey..?" The prince asked, Jagen walking over to them, sighing.

"You know, Marth, just like how your father had a reason to do what he did, don't you think there's a good reason that Elice lied to you?" Jagen asked, pressing his liege to think things through. Frey slowly regained composure, taking a deep breath before speaking.

"That is precisely the case, Jagen. My prince, do you already forget what Cain told you about your father's final message?" The young prince became wide eyed and aware as the words of Cain echoed through his head. He was to be Altea's future, he was to plunge the world out of darkness.

"I'm… our future…" Frey placed a hand on his shoulder, something that was rare for him to do.

"That is correct, sire. Believe me when I say that I did not want to leave your sister behind… I tried hard to convince her to rethink, but it was for nothing." Marth's gaze returned upward, his resolve in a flicker.

"It seems my life is no longer mine to hazard… I must honor my sister's sacrifice."

"More to the point," Jagen began, "We should start moving towards our escape in Talys as soon as possible. The Gra army will be on top of us anytime now." Marth nodded in agreement, the other knights preparing to head out.

"If we are quick about this, we may not have to enter another battle by the time we escape." Frey acknowledged, staring down the distant enemy lines.

"Frey, how did you make these preparations?" The prince asked.

"Well your sister instructed me to, sire. It just so happened one of our very own men in training was stationed on guard by the coast."

"One of… our very own..?"

Scene cuts to the port on the coast:

"All you've got is 2,000 gold?!" Shouted an angry boatman, slamming his fist on the counter of his shack.

"I'm afraid so," began a young male with green hair that was slightly spiked, "My liege didn't send many funds to work with…"

"Sorry, but to get to Talys you're going to need more than that!" The man replied unmoved, letting out a yawn.

"Sir, please. Can't we make a deal? We are talking about a life and death situation! The escape of our prince!" The younger male argued back, frustrated by the lack of urgency this spurred in the others around him.

"Fine… Give me 5,000 and I'll let you go. Unless you want to try your luck at pissing me off more?" This made the young knight even more angry, it beginning to show. It should cost nothing for the survival of their country!

"Now listen here, I don't know where you get off charging the prince of your own country to escape for your own future good, but-"

"Uhm, excuse me…" A young feminine voice interrupted, a hand tugging at the arm of the green haired youth. The male turned to look behind him, seeing a young girl with pink hair. She looked cute admittedly, but he didn't have time for just any cute girls. Still, he had never seen a girl be so… enticing.

"Oh, hey. What can I do for you?" He asked, not even realizing he was blushing as she had taken him out of his rage.

"Y-You said you only have 2,000 gold, right? Well uhm…" the girl paused, looking to her side, "I'm sure my village would be happy to provide for the rest." The sweetness of this girl surprised him. Why was it that this simple village girl in 1 sentence had shown more care for her country than this boatman had in almost 10 minutes?

"No, please. That's not necessary." He replied instinctively, the girl shaking her head.

"You said this was for the escape of our prince, we'll help however we can!" She insisted with a certain determination, the young male losing all will to refuse.

"I… that's very kind… thank you." He replied softly, a smile creeping onto him. "What's your name?"

"My name? It's Norne." The male nodded, keeping it in mind. Norne. He would put in a good word for her for sure.

"Thank you, Norne. My name is Draug, a knight in training for Altea. I'll be sure your kindness is rewarded." Norne didn't seem surprised by his position. She had learned a lot about the knights of Altea from her friend from another village, and this male… no, Draug, was every bit as virtuous as she imagined.

"It's no big deal, whatever I can do to help!" She then ran off in the direction of her village, leaving the young knight in messmeration.

"I didn't know girls could come in that variety…"

Back to Marth:

The group had been marching to the port for quite awhile now, the pace a strenuous one necessary to stay ahead of the Graan army that pursued them yet. Marth had to keep his emotions under control for now, pressing onward with the thoughts of his sister ever looming over his conscious.

"We'll need to get passed the fortress stationed over the river if we are to get to the port," Jagen began, eyeing the distance, "However, the chance of an enemy ambush waiting for us on the other side is high."

"It may be a risk that is in need of taking," Abel agreed, causing Cain to step back in surprise.

"You're sounding like me now, you know?" The red haired knight stated. Abel chuckled, shrugging his shoulders.

"Everyone needs to be reckless when things get tight." As they marched, Marth would occasionally look back at Frey, him being quiet since they departed to the port. It wasn't unusual by any means, but it was still troubling. However, from across the water a group of Gra soldiers were indeed waiting for the Altean stragglers on the other side of the fort.

"Captain! The Altean prince is on his way here as we speak!" A soldier informed as he eyed the group across the water. "How shall we proceed?"

"Simple. We set a trap for the whelps!" The Gra captain ordered in response, intriguing the other soldiers nearby.

"A trap sir? Ohh, do you mean…?"

"Yes! The prisoner, bring him here!" The captain ordered, a couple of soldiers bringing in a young boy whose mouth was stuffed with a gag.

"Mffmmfph!" The boy screamed, trying to struggle out of the hold of the soldiers.

"Hey there, gaggles," the captain laughed, slapping the boy across the face. "We've got a mission for you. Men, suit him up in Gra attire!"

"Mmmf!?" The soldiers holding him stripped him of all clothing except his undergarments, suiting him up as the captain asked.

"Captain, if you don't mind me asking, what is our plan here?" A soldier asked, causing the captain to grin.

"I'm glad you asked. Our King Jiol himself is on his way in pursuit of the prince leading Gra's elite!" He began, "By making this little junior knight here appear as a soldier of our own, it will not only slow the pace of the prince and allow us to pincer him in like a rat, once it comes out that gaggles here is one of his own country men it will completely ruin the people's view of their beloved prince!" The captain began to laugh from this plan that seemed oh so brilliant.

"Great thinking, captain! The king will surely give you a reward for something so brilliant!"

"Of course he will. Now, take gaggles over to that fortress! As soon as the prince opens up the gate he'll have no choice but to react by attacking the armor of his enemy!"

"Mmf! Mmgg!" The boy screamed as he was carried away by the soldiers. Try as he might he could not break free from their grasp. Just as the captain had assumed, the group was completely oblivious to their plan. Jagen began to advise Marth on the right procedure going forward as they neared the gate to the fortress. As their conversation went on, Frey's gaze remained fixed ahead of him as his surroundings began to change into the castle grounds of Altea. He was sitting down in the garden picking various fruits, and by his side was princess Elice.

"Princess, will this amount please you?" Frey asked, gesturing to the full baskets of fruit that lay beside them. Elice nodded with a smile, reaching to pick up one as Frey's hand intercepted, him grabbing the basket first.

"Sir Frey? Is there something wrong with this basket of fruit?" The young girl asked curiously, confused as to why he had stopped her so abruptly.

"No, princess. I just insist that you allow me to carry both baskets, you need not trouble yourself." He replied emotionlessly, Elice tilting her head in confusion as she pondered his response.

"...not trouble myself…?" She repeated aloud before beginning to giggle, Frey raising an eyebrow.

"Is something wrong, princess?" Elice shook her head as she calmed herself down, simply smiling warmly at her knight.

"Not at all, Sir Frey." She replied, the knight now evidently confused.

"Then what is it?"

"It is no trouble for me to carry some of the fruit that I assigned you to assist me in picking. I do not need you to do everything, you know?" She moved her hand back to one of the baskets, Frey instinctively reaching for it again where Elice stopped him.

"But Princess, I insist-"

"Sir Frey," Elice interrupted, "You do not need to be so serious with me. You are doing a great job." Frey became a little flustered now, a rare sight compared to his usual emotionless appearance.

"Princess, I am your retainer, to leave any task to you while I am present is inexcusable!" He replied with urgency, causing the princess to giggle once more. "What now?"

"I noticed you only ever call me princess, you act as if we are complete strangers!" She replied as she calmed herself down once more, Frey shaking his head, his emotion leaving him as soon as it came.

"Of course, it's only natural. I am your retainer, nothing more." Elice let out a sigh, placing her other hand on the knight's.

"That simply won't do," she began, "If you are to be by my side on every occasion, if you are to be my sole protector, and if you are to be my teacher of the world…" she paused, gazing into Frey's eyes, tearing into his emotionless wall that stood around him. "If you are to be all of that, I would prefer it if you address me with a little more comfort."

"A little more comfort…?" He repeated. Elice nodded. "Then how about… milady? Or…holy maiden… no..." Frey began to think hard, Elice letting out another sigh.

"You can refer to me by my name, you know?"

"I cannot!" Frey replied sharply, "To do so would be an insult to you!" Elice simply looked at him dumbfounded before giggling one last time, causing the emotionless knight to blush.

"Why must you keep laughing, Lady Elice- I mean, milady!" He corrected himself swiftly, Elice's giggling subsiding.

"That's the one!" She said abruptly, confusing the knight.

"What do you mean?"

"Lady Elice," she continued, "Address me as that." Frey now gazed into the eyes of the princess as she did him, feeling a sincere warmth radiating off of her and cutting into him. Lady Elice… something seemed so right about that.

"Are you sure…?" He asked, Elice nodding in approval.

"Not too formal and not too casual, wouldn't you agree? Besides, I like the sound of it." The young princess made her decision. Frey agreed, surrendering at last.

"Very well, if it is what you will, I shall do as such… Lady Elice…"

"Frey!" Called out a voice from all around, interrupting the moment. "Frey!" The voice called again, his surroundings beginning to shift back into reality as he found himself staring at the fortress, a hand having in his face.

"Frey!" The voice called one last time, him now recognizing it as the voice of prince Marth.

"Huh…? What is it, sire?" Frey asked as his senses returned to him, seeing the other knights look at him with concern.

"We are about to move in on the fortress, are you ready?" Jagen answered for the prince, Frey nodding reluctantly in response. "On your command, sire." This was the prince's first taste of being a commander, something he knew he would need to grow accustomed to if he was to win back his homeland one day.

"Very well, then. Everyone ready?" Marth asked, looking around as an offensive line was formed. "Then… charge!" He commanded, sprinting at the fort as fast as his young legs could move him, the knights traveling close behind him. Whatever was inside of that fortress would have a hard time defending against the force of their line, him running even faster as all other thoughts in his mind shut off, the gate closing in. Cain and Abel pushed a little ahead of the prince before charging right into the gate, it falling down abruptly as the prince ran inside with the rest of knights. However, to their surprise the fort lacked any sign of life. As far as the eye could see it was empty as an eerie silence loomed over them.

"What the hell! We got worried for nothing!" Cain shouted in protest as he made his way inside, Abel letting out a sigh of relief at the emptiness. Marth was relieved as well, a drop of sweat falling from his chin.

"Don't speak so soon," Jagen advised cautiously, "There could still be someone in the shadows… we should still tread carefully."

"R-Right…" Marth nodded, beginning to slowly walk through dimly lit and evidently abandoned fort, their footsteps echoing throughout. As they pressed on, Frey abruptly stopped, putting out an arm to stop the prince as well.

"Sire, do you hear that?" He asked coldly, everyone stopping at once to listen to the apparent sound. The faint sound of gagging could be heard from further inside the fort. If they kept going straight they would surely find the source of the sound.

"Could it be an enemy ambush?" One of the knights asked.

"How shall we proceed, our prince?" Asked another.

"Uhm, well… I uhm…" Marth struggled to find an answer before clearing his throat, gathering some confidence. "I say we keep going! At worse it's only one soldier, we can take just one, right?" Jagen nodded in approval.

"Correct, however one of us should remain guard at the front of the fort in case we get flanked. One of you," he pointed at one of the knights, "Go stand guard!"

"Yes sir!" They replied before running back to where they entered. Meanwhile the group continued to move forward, the sound slowly getting louder. It seemed as if they were just upon it now, their stride slowing in response. Just then the figure of what appeared to be a Graan soldier could be seen, Marth halting in an instant.

"Let's move in all at once…" Marth whispered, walking towards the soldier as the rest of the knights followed. As they grew closer, the soldier gazed up at them, the sound ceasing.

"So you tried to ambush us, huh?" Cain called out as they slowly surrounded him, "Well you failed, bastard!" He then took out his sword, the soldier squirming around in response as all sorts of muffled screams began to fill the air until he fell to the floor, revealing a rope tied around his arms.

"Wait! This soldier had been gagged!" Marth then knelt down by the soldier, removing the gag from his mouth as a series of deep breaths followed. At closer inspection, something seemed familiar about the soldier. Green hair… rather short… wait!

"Hold on," Marth continued, "You're one of our archers in training, aren't you?"

"Gordin, sire," he answered in between breaths, "The enemy captured me and left me in this state…" Cain then put his sword away as Abel helped remove the ropes from Gordin's body.

"I see. Well, I am glad you're unharmed," Marth said relieved, helping the young archer to his feet. Gordin's short stature made him look no older than the prince himself! "I am sure you're aware we cannot afford to stay here much longer, so stay behind me and-"

"I can fight, sire," Gordin interrupted, "If you have a bow I can use, I would be honored to fight at your side!" Marth looked to Jagen where he nodded in approval.

"Very well, we're glad to have you, Gordin!" Marth said with a smile, Jagen handing the young archer a bow he had stolen from an enemy back at the castle. "Now, we should press onward."

"Sire, bad news!" One of the knights shouted from up ahead, "This door won't budge, it seems we're trapped!"

"Oh, you've got to be kidding me!" Cain shouted in frustration, Marth looking around nervously as their options became limited.

"If we stay here, Gra's elite will catch up in no time!" Abel added, the prince remaining silent. There had to be something they could do, perhaps charge at the door with all their might? It couldn't just end like this.

From outside the fort the soldier that was sent to stand guard let out a yawn as the eerie silence of the open Altean fields became comforting. He felt himself about to doze off when the sound of heavy armor made him alert, his gaze fixing to the distance where he saw dozens of soldiers closing in towards them and fast. It was Gra's elite, and leading them was of course king Jiol himself! The troops stopped in place as Jiol made his way to the front, spotting the soldier as he let off an evil grin.

"Listen, men. Your target is the prince," Jiol began, "Find the prince of Altea and bring me his head served on a shield!" The knight on guard ran back into the fort, the sound of footsteps booming throughout the building. Their attention turned to the direction of the sound, the figure of their soldier slowly forming in the darkness.

"Sire, I have a report!" He shouted, catching his breath.

"What is it?" The prince asked with concern.

"The situation outside… has turned for the worse… King Jiol is just outside with Gra's elite in tow… they are closing in as we speak."

"Are you certain?!" Jagen questioned, the soldier nodding reluctantly.

"My eyes do not mistake me, sir. We must move fast!"

"But… The door to the fort is locked shut! We're completely trapped!" Gordin shouted, his morale melting into the puddle. "Our lives our forfeit…" Cain then punched Gordin in the face in frustration of his apathy.

"Ow! What was that for?!"

"Don't you dare give up," the hot headed knight began, "There has got to be a way we can still get out of here! I will NOT allow my life to exist instead of king Cornelius's only for it to be taken out by this damn door!"

"Cain's right," Marth began, "We can't lose hope… there has to be a way out…" He tried to provide comfort in the dire situation, but his voice was full of dread. The young child of a prince truly had no idea on how to get out of this mess. His insides became knots as the realization that time was running out continued to settle in. While this all happened, Frey remained silent.

"I cannot let the sacrifice of Lady Elice be in vain…" Frey thought to himself, "She who is divine and everything holy among all other people… I must allow her death to mean something!" The group continued to quarrel amongst each other, trying to come up with some sort of plan until Frey spoke up.

"Sire, I have a suggestion," He said, his voice carrying more emotion than usual.

"Hm? What is it?" Marth asked, his conscious suddenly hopeful as any idea sounded good at this point.

"Allow me and a few other knights… act as a decoy to ensure your escape." Frey suggested, the prince's eyes widening.

"What…? You cannot mean…"

"I do, it is a sacrifice I am willing to make." The blue haired knight insisted, his expression unchanged.

"No! I cannot allow it! I cannot allow you to throw your life away!" Marth cried out in desperation, his heart began to throb in pain just thinking about it.

"Sire," Jagen began, "None of us want to do this as much as you, but Frey is correct."

"Jagen?! You too?" The prince began to sound betrayed by the veteran knight's support of such an idea. Jagen simply nodded.

"Your life is more important than any of ours, any of us would gladly offer ourselves if it meant you live." Jagen reasoned, glancing over at Frey who nodded in agreement.

"But…" Marth trailed off, not wanting to accept this, even if it truly was the only way. Frey walked over to the prince, placing his hand on his shoulder.

"Sire, please allow me to do this," he began, "It was your sister's wish that I ensure your safety in her stead… allow me to fulfill my Lady's final request!" Frey's voice now wavered to the surprise of everyone, Marth biting his lip. "Please, allow me to ensure her sacrifice means something!" The prince's denial began to back down in the wake of Frey's virtue, looking away as he held back oncoming tears.

"Very well… I will allow you to… fulfill your duty. I have no right to take it away from you…" Marth muttered in defeat, now forcing his eyes open as the tears began to flow, handing Frey his spare set of clothes.

"Sire… I thank you. I swear, I will not fail!" He then ran off with a group of knights, leaving only Marth, Jagen, Cain, Abel, and Gordin behind. The prince took one last look at Frey, and although it didn't make sense, he could have sworn he saw a tear flowing from his face as well.

Back at the port:

"There! All 5,000 right here!" Draug heaved a sack of gold onto the counter of the boat shack, the boatman seeming surprised.

"That was fast, but no matter." The man began to count the money, nodding. "Very well, let me know when you lot are ready to set sail." The green haired knight then walked away slightly satisfied, Norne waiting for him a few yards away.

"So how did it go?" The pink haired girl asked, Draug blushing as he didn't expect to see her.

"Just fine, but why are you still here?" He asked, the girl smirking with confidence.

"Well you said you guys are on the run, right? I'm not too shabby with a bow, you know." She began, the green haired knight curious as to what she was scheming.

"Are you asking me to come with us to Talys?" He asked, impressed that she would go so far.

"Yep! Is there a problem with that?"

"Not at all, we can use the help… but you do realize that you could easily die, right?" Norne nodded in understanding. "Can I ask why you are so willing to do so?"

"Well, a couple years ago I met this boy named Kris. He helped me find my way back when I was lost in the woods, and even more than that he told me all about the knights of Altea." She explained, "Full of virtue and protecting their liege to the very end… the idea sounded right out of a fairy tale. He said it was his dream to be a knight one day, so I decided I wanted to give it a try too." Draug nodded, it made enough sense to him.

"So, you want to be a knight, huh?" The girl nodded excitedly, her face getting a little red.

"Yep! After seeing you, Sir Draug, I can definitely say my imagination of you dashing knights wasn't let down…" It took Draug a moment to figure out what exactly the girl was implying, slowly turning red as he pieced it together.

"Y-You think I'm… dashing?" He questioned incredibly embarrassed at the compliment, admittedly satisfied that this cute girl found him easy on the eyes as well.

"Uh huh…" she answered whimsically before snapping back into reality, "Anyway! Do you accept?"

"Of course. Since you're an archer, don't be afraid to stay behind me in battle. I'll keep you safe from the front lines!" Draug began to do some defensive poses as he said this, Norne watching amazed as if her heart was in the process of being stolen.

"As you say, sir Draug…"

Back to Marth:

Frey had just finished changing into the prince's spare clothes, them surprisingly not very tight on him as he turned to look at the knights who came with him. The Gra soldiers were closing in on them still. Time was running out.

"Lady Elice," Frey thought to himself, a tear flowing ever so slowly down his face. "It is because of you that my sad and worthless life once again has meaning. To thank you, I will ensure your final wish comes to be… A fool like me is not worthy to see you in whatever after life I am given, but… If I can only be in your presence one last time…"

"Sir Frey!" One of the knights called out, interrupting his thoughts. Frey simply nodded. It was time to move. With the prince and Elice in his thoughts, Frey began to run across the open fields with the knights following behind, it catching the attention of the Gra soldiers.

"Look! It's prince Marth!" Cried out one of the Gra soldiers. Frey smirked, close enough to hear them shout amongst each other. The plan was working.

"Oh yeah? Who's that then?" Another soldier asked. "That bloke over there is dressed in the same clothes. Could be either of 'em." Frey then turned around to see Marth struggling as Cain and Abel held him back.

"Damn it, sire!" Frey thought, "Stay back! You're going to ruin the whole plan!" Just then, Jiol went to the front of the line again, beating the two soldiers over the head as he walked by.

"Simpletons!" Jiol insulted, "Use your heads! One of them ran; the other didn't. What does that tell you? Easy! The one who stayed behind is trying to buy time for the one who fled!" Upon hearing this, Frey's jaw dropped. The king of Gra couldn't be that stupid, could he?

"So, er… the one who took off is-" Jiol cut off the soldier.

"The real prince, you idiot, yes! Hie, troops! After him! Put that craven whelp to the sword!" Jiol ordered, the entire unit turning their attention to Frey and the other knights, beginning to chase them down.

"I guess I shouldn't be surprised that one who is dumb enough to betray Altea is dumb enough to fall for this!" Frey chuckled with a smirk, "Alright, men, run as fast as you can and get them as far away from the prince as possible!" Marth continued to struggle against Cain and Abel as he watched Frey run off with the Gra army close behind.

"No! We have to go after him! He'll die back there!" The prince cried out before the two knights reluctantly pinned him to the ground.

"Damn it, Sire!" Cain groaned out, "It's too late to change your mind about letting him go!"

"Let his sacrifice… mean something…" Abel added, Marth's squirming becoming weaker and weaker.

"I know I let him go, but-" Jagen then slammed his foot down in front of the prince's face, causing him to stay quiet.

"Sire, enough of this. You know as well as I do that Frey wished for it to be him! Let him be at peace and die a true knight to his Lady!" The veteran knight hollered, the prince digging his fingers into the dirt. "To go back for him now would not only insult his honor as a knight, but insult your sister as his master! Do you really wish to drag both of them through the mud?!" Marth remained silent as Jagen's words shook his core, him giving in as he realized the veteran knight was right.

"Very well, I will honor them…" he muttered weakly, Cain and Abel getting off of him.

"Sire, I am sorry for yelling," Jagen began, "But it is crucial that-"

"I know," Marth cut him off, "We need to use this opportunity to find a way to escape." Jagen frowned as he could hear how the prince had forced those words out of his bleeding heart. Today was truly hard on the boy.

"Hey!" Gordin shouted, breaking the brief silence, "The door on the other side of the fort is open now!" The group looked over to see that it was indeed open.

"But why…?" Abel questioned, Cain cracking his knuckles with a smirk on his face.

"Who cares? It's perfect timing! Let's get the hell out of here!" The red haired knight added.

"Sire, are you ready to press on?" Jagen asked, helping Marth to his feet. The prince nodded, not bothering to clean the dirt off of his face.

"Yes, let's go." Across the water, the Gra captain and his handful of troops remained waiting for the rest of Marth's group to come through the fort, ready to ambush him at once.

"Since the prince fled south, what do you guys say to having a little fun picking off the runts he left behind?"

"Aye, captain!" The troops replied in excitement, awaiting the prince's arrival on the other side of the fort. Meanwhile, the group rushed through the fort before making it out the other side, the port visible in the distance.

"There!" Jagen shouted pointing at the docks, "Our escape ship must be at that port!" Marth nodded, running as fast as he could until a few soldiers blocked his path, causing him to stop abruptly, almost tripping as a result. He looked around to see more Gra soldiers moving in to surround him too. It was an ambush and he fell right for it!

"Damn it! Out of our way!" Cain shouted, ready to rush right at them. Marth simply remained silent until a voice called out from behind him.

"Would you look at that! The prince that fled was a fake! Looks like a promotion for me is in order after all!" Marth turned to see the captain of the Gra soldiers, him letting out a laugh at what appeared to be certain victory. Except, little did they know, the Altean knights weren't some ordinary pushovers.

"Shut the hell up! Stand aside before I kick your ass!" Cain shouted at the captain, Abel attempting to calm down his partner.

"You shouldn't be so reckless-"

"Actually, Abel," Marth interrupted, "I know you guys aren't so weak. You're really worried about getting carried away for my safety, am I right?" Abel remained silent, Jagen smiling at the prince as he knew what was going through his head. "After Frey, I refuse for one more life to be thrown away for my sake today! I can defend myself well enough! Let's just focus on getting out of here!"

"Hell yeah!" Cain shouted, "Let's teach these bastards a lesson!" Jagen watched in satisfaction as the prince had already taken steps to maturing. Even with all of the loss suffered so far, he knew that somewhere Cornelius would be proud of his son's stand against Gra.

"You say that as if it's easy!" The captain replied aggravated. Cain smirked, fired up already.

"Just try us!" He lunged forward and stabbed one of the soldiers surrounding them clean in the chest, this being immediately followed by an arrow shot by Gordin landing perfectly in another soldier's shoulder, them falling to the ground. Just as quickly, Abel and Jagen charged right for 2 of the others, only one being left which Marth gladly took on, the chaos causing the soldier to do an extremely sloppy attack which the prince dodged with ease before delivering a killing slash with his sword. Only the captain remained, but he was desperate running right at the back of the prince.

"Now only the captain is left… where is he?" Marth questioned, seeing that he had moved from his previous position.

"My liege, behind you!" Jagen warned, the prince turning to see the captain running right at him, lance in hand. It was too late.

"If I am to die here I will at least kill you, Altean prince!" The captain roared. An arrow then came out of nowhere and nailed the captain in the head, him falling to the ground at the last possible second.

"Heh, nice shot, Norne!" Said the voice of a young knight.

"See, I told you I was a good shot!" The voice of a young girl replied. The prince turned back around, seeing the familiar sight of the knight in training, Draug, with a young pink haired girl by his side.

"Hey! Prince Marth!" Draug called out with a wave, "Let's get going, we must make haste, sire!"

"Draug!" Gordin shouted, running to his friend. "You're alive!"

"Did you have any doubt?" The other knight replied with a chuckle, equally as glad to see his training buddy unharmed. Marth then walked over to them, a relieved smile on his face.

"I'm glad to see you unharmed, Draug… but what are you doing here?" The prince asked.

"Frey instructed me to prepare a ship for your escape on your sister's behalf." He answered simply.

"I see. Well thank you." Norne was looking into the distance as the prince talked with Draug, seeing troops on the move.

"Draug, sir! The enemy has crossed the border from the west!" She began, "They'll be upon us soon!" Marth looked over at the girl, not recognizing her at all.

"Draug, who is this girl?" He asked, Draug smiling as he patted the girl on the back.

"Sir, this is Norne. She heard wind of our struggles and wishes to fight for Altea!" Norne nodded, a blush on her face from the indirect praise.

"That's right! Prince Marth, 'tis an honor." She began, "By your leave, though, I'll be saving the curtsy-bobbin' for later! Let's move quickly!"

"Right! And thanks for the help!" Marth bowed politely before making a run for the port, the ship ready to set sail for when they arrive. As they arrived at the port, everyone rushed onto the ship where the boatman was waiting for them.

"This everyone?" He asked. Draug nodded and the boatman began to release the ship from the dock, Marth taking a look back at his home. He had escaped, but it was not without sacrifice. His father, his sister, Frey, and many more had died instead of him this day. The exhaustion began to catch up with him as his vision began to blur as time seemed to move out of control. He stared intently at Altea castle in the distance for one last time, it being the last thing he saw before falling into a deep sleep...

Meanwhile, in the southern fields of Altea, Gra's elite circled a heavily injured Frey, the rest of the knights already dead. However, Frey was still hanging onto dear life even as he was bleeding out all over the ground he stood on.

"This whelp is pretty good," Jiol began as he stared at the knight in a state of near death, "He's managed to take out 3 of our elite all by himself. Much stronger than those other puny knights that came with him." Frey glared at the king of this traitor nation with hatred as his breaths were heavy and painful.

"T-There's gonna be… 6 of you dead before I'm finished!" He forced out as he coughed up blood, it harder to breathe. Jiol held up his hand to stop the other troops from initiating on the beaten knight.

"Your strength is extraordinary for just a simple knight. Where did you learn to be so strong?" Frey remained silent as the blood continued to flow from his body. His vision became blurry and his senses began to distort. He was losing consciousness. "You might be useful to Gharnef, perhaps we should take you prisoner… if you survive! Hahaha!" Jiol's arrogant laughter was the last thing Frey heard before he collapsed on the ground, a puddle of blood forming under his body. He was finished, however his death wouldn't be in vain. He had refused to give away the location of his prince to the very end and had ensured his safety. He couldn't possibly ask for more.

"Lady Elice…" he thought as everything around him began to silence, "I completed your final request of me… Thank you… for giving me a reason…" his thoughts trailed off as a vision of Elice appeared before him. She was smiling at him and reached for his hand, attempting to pull him closer to her. He gladly welcomed her light, reaching out to take her hand in his. However, as they were about to connect, Frey felt himself be pulled downward by the shadows beneath him, falling into some dark hellish abyss. Wherever he was going, it was no doubt a place of great suffering, a place he felt he truly deserved. He took one more look at Elice's holy being and then… complete silence…

Marth had awoken on the ship, a violent wave causing the vessel to shake abruptly. He rubbed his eyes, taking in his surroundings. Everything that had happened this day felt like a huge horrible dream, but one look at the horizon proved it was all real.

"Look, sire. See how Altea shrinks on the horizon…" Jagen observed, Marth gazing at his shrinking homeland in defeat. In truth, the prince was utterly disgusted to even be alive after all of this. He was nothing more than a craven, unable to protect his people. If he was only stronger, Frey, Elice, his mother… none of them would have had to die! Perhaps if one day, he became stronger, he really could be a king who could save everyone! Yes, it had to be possible! Just thinking about how many lives he could have saved if he was strong enough… surely it could be true! However, as he was painfully reminded, for now he was just a weak fool. A craven.

"...aven…" he repeated out loud barely audible, Jagen looking over at the prince as he was unable to make out what he said.

"I beg your pardon?"

"I am a craven," Marth began dreadfully, "Powerless to save my sister, to staunch my kingdom's wounds; to ease my people's fears…" Jagen let out a sigh, shaking his head regretfully.

"This… was your only recourse, sire. But surely, one day, you will be able to set things right…" With this, Marth's built up emotions became too much to bear as he snapped, slamming his fist onto the wooden rails of the boat.

""Surely"? Why do words of such conviction smack so much of uncertainty when spoken?!" The prince began angrily, "Not surely, Jagen. Assuredly! Gra will pay for their actions! Today, though, allow me to wallow in this pain, to feel every awful twist of it! I never want to forget, do you hear me?!" Jagen backed away surprised at such an outburst, but understood how he felt. He too felt great pain today, but he knew someday it would all be paid back.

"Sire…" Marth continued to gaze at his home, making an oath to himself that he would never forget as this image would be burned into him for all eternity.

"I will return, Altea!" He cried out, "Your prince will return to you one day! I swear it!"


	4. Chapter 4: Talys

The interior of the ship shook violently as it dug into the coarse sands that were the shores of Talys, waking the young prince from a deep sleep. The recent events still proved to weigh heavy on the boy's mind, and had already infiltrated his dreams. Still, he had hoped that the real dream was what had happened in Altea, hoping to wake up in his chambers to the sound of a castle guard announcing his father's triumphant return. He would celebrate with his mother and sister, and the world would be purged of all the darkness that he had seen formed. But alas, his hopes were for naught as his awakening in this unpleasant vessel proved that everything that had happened so far was inescapably real. His father Cornelius, his mother Liza, his sister Elice and her personal knight, Frey along with many other soldiers, had all died. Along with the departure of his best friend, Merric just a year or so earlier, never before had the boy felt such loneliness in the world, left with only a few knights to keep him company as he was forced to embrace this new shameful life of hiding in Talys, where he would grow up without a family and with the only thought in his head being the hate he felt for Gra, Grust, and of course Gharnef who had started this meaningless struggle.

Marth rose from the floor that he slept on slowly, his body aching from the time spent in such an uncomfortable position. He heard footsteps on the main deck of the ship from outside the sleeping quarters, hinting that the knights were already awake. The boy let out a sigh, putting on his boots before making his way to the deck. As he slowly opened the door, he was met with the oddly comforting light of the morning sun. Combined with the overhead clouds, it provided for a modest brightness that swept over the tiny island country that they had just reached as he scanned the landscape in front of him. A thin layer of fog in the distance prevented him from seeing too far ahead, but it was enough for him to get a general grasp of the environment. Grass, sand, a few little forests… and well, that was about it aside from a tiny village that peeked out ever so slightly in the fog. He could only imagine how laid back life must be living here, for its lands held less than even his home, Altea, a country famous for its modest landscape.

"So this is Talys," the prince muttered to himself, his voice coated with a certain level of disappointment. He knew he shouldn't feel this way, but with such a small island as a home, becoming bored seemed an extremely likely and recurring event. Marth then scanned the deck of the boat, only spotting Draug, Norne, and Gordin aboard. By the looks of it, they were in some sort of intense discussion.

"There is no way she's better!" Whined the voice of the green haired archer, pointing at Norne as if accusing her of some felony, "I have a few years of professional knight training! She has none!" This caused Draug to sigh, rolling his eyes in annoyance.

"For the 4th time, I am not saying she's better," the armored knight groaned, looking down as he began to rub his forehead in frustration, "I am simply saying that we should perform a test to see how her skills stack up to an archer in training…!"

"Draug I can't believe you'd say this!" Gordin continued, the statement from his friend evidently flying over his head, "After our time so far training in the knight academy… y-you think I can be replaced!"

"Oh, come on…!" Draug's face slowly disappeared into both of his hands, seeming to be internally screaming at the obnoxious insecurities displayed by his friend. As this all happened, Norne simply stood there as the event played forward, looking back and forth between the frustrated armor knight and helplessly insecure green haired archer, struck with a mix of confusion and concern for the mental state of her new colleagues.

"Guys-" The young pink haired girl began before getting drowned out in the continuing of the other's bickering, looking down at her feet.

"You always do this!" The armored knight in training shouted at his friend, "You assume the moment that I show a liking to anyone that isn't you, that I am suddenly replacing you!" This statement caused Gordin to draw back with a horrified look on his face.

"So you admit that you are taking a liking to her! I had my doubts, Draug, but it's true!" His voice droned on as he once again pointed a finger of accusation at his friend, "You intend to leave me for a girl!" The distance between the two suddenly became close to non existent as their eyes were locked tightly on each other, the situation becoming more heated.

"I wasn't planning on it, but if you're going to act like this then I might as well!"

"Guys-" Norne tried to interrupt once more before getting cut off, her eyes now meeting with the Prince who had been watching the whole time.

"Fine! Do it if you want! See how much I care!" Gordin shouted back, Draug about to retaliate once more before Norne waved over to Marth with a nervous smile, trying desperately to end the conflict.

"Morning, sire," The pink haired archer greeted, surprising the 2 arguing knights as they turned their heads to see their prince watching them, their faces turning red as a wave of embarrassment swept over them.

"Good morning, I hope I am not interrupting anything," Marth replied sarcastically with a small laugh, taking honest amusement from the fight the young junior knights were having. For a moment, it felt more like they were simply his friends than his future servants.

"O-Oh, good morning, sire..!" Draug greeted with extreme embarrassment, standing at attention. Gordin followed suite, the same level of embarrassment viewable on his face as well.

"H-how are you feeling this m-morning?" The green haired junior archer asked, stumbling over his words as a drop of sweat fell from his cheek down his chin until eventually landing on the wood beneath them. Just like that their intense frustration was practically as good as gone, leaving the prince at a loss of words.

"I am… all right…?" Marth answered slowly, rubbing the back of his neck, "You do not need to be so embarrassed…" He turned to look at Norne who was still perfectly composed.

"Ugh, you guys are freaking him out with your formalities!" She spoke sharply, causing Marth rub his neck once more. That wasn't it at all.

"...Yeah we'll go with that…" The prince muttered, wanting to change the subject. In reality, it was their seemingly instantaneous change of mood that had him stumped.

"Though, if I began screaming so loud that half the island could hear me, I'd be embarrassed too." Norne teased, giggling at the flustered junior knights. However, this little joke caused the scene to lighten up.

"Right… forgive us, sire." Draug spoke softly as he took a deep breath, composing himself. As the mood became more relaxed, Marth scanned the deck once more, still not seeing the other knights.

"Have you three seen where Cain, Abel, and Jagen went off to?" Asked the prince.

"Yes," Draug replied, "They left earlier to make a formal audience with King Talys. Actually, Jagen instructed us to head to the castle once you were awake."

"Yeah! That lousy boatman demanded that he be allowed to leave as soon as possible!" Gordin added, Draug covering his mouth as soon as it came out.

"Idiot! He can hear us, you know?"

"Right, sorry…"

"If that's the case, then I see no reason to not head over now." Marth concluded, grabbing his small amount of belongings. In all honesty, he was ready to say goodbye to this stupid boat.

"Very well," Gordin and Draug said in unison, "Allow us to lead the way!" And they were off, already marching off of the boat without even waiting for the prince.

"Altean knights are pretty weird…" Norne remarked, causing the prince to laugh.

"Aren't you more weird for wanting to join them, then?" Norne shrugged, watching the junior knights march along, her gaze fixed particularly on the one in heavy armor.

"I never said it was a bad thing, besides that Draug is pretty cute, especially when flustered like that." She seemed to start daydreaming.

"...right…" The prince replied hesitantly, walking off the boat to follow the knights. Norne eventually noticed the prince moving without her, stumbling off the boat as well.

"Huh? Wait for me!"

Just a little to the north of where Marth had landed on the island was Talys castle. All things considered, it was a rather small castle in comparison to other countries in Archanea, which was to be expected. However, it still imposed a level of authority on the island that was apparent to the prince as he noticed it appear from the fog. It was so much larger than anything else on the island. All the while, inside was Jagen, Cain, and Abel who were holding an audience with King Mostyn just as they had planned. In the throne room, the 3 knights were knelt before the King to show their respect as they made introductions.

"I see," The King began after assessing the situation as Jagen had informed him. "So the world really has become so lost in the darkness that Cornelius's son must take refuge on our small nation…" His words were solemn, his expression showing evidence of grief.

"I'm sorry to trouble you with this news, King Talys, I understand that his majesty Cornelius was a close friend of yours." Jagen looked away from the king, now keeping his sight on the floor beneath them.

"He was… However, I can only imagine how the boy feels to lose his entire family at such a young age," The king rubbed his chin, closing his eyes. "Watching my daughter cope with the loss of my wife was enough to break me apart, I do not want to know how she would have felt if she lost me as well."

"Your majesty…"

"That is exactly why I plan to keep my promise to Cornelius, my promise to provide his son with a home when or if the time comes where he has nowhere else to go." The veteran knight looked up at the king once more.

"Y-You have my deepest gratitude, your majesty…" Jagen's voice was breaking, standing on his feet before bowing respectfully, Cain and Abel doing the same. Just then, they heard a group of footsteps approaching from outside of the throne room.

"That must be the prince…" Jagen motioned to the door, a guard opening it upon receiving a queue from Mostyn. As the door opened, Marth slowly entered, Draug, Gordin, and Norne following close behind.

"Sire! How are you feeling this morning?" Jagen asked as the group walked closer, the door shutting behind them. Given all that had happened the previous day, he could not help but be worried.

"I'm fine," Marth replied bluntly, looking up at King Mostyn as he remained seated on his throne. "You are King Mostyn of Talys? Your majesty, I have a selfish request of you, bu-"

"No need," Mostyn interrupted, "Sir Jagen and I just finished discussing this. We're happy to have you here in Talys."

"I… thank you!" Marth bowed, "Truly and sincerely."

"Think nothing of it. Now I will request housing for all of you."

"Is that truly okay?" The prince asked. "I do not want to impede on the citizens." This caused Mostyn to grin, standing up from his chair as he let out a hardy laugh.

"Prince Marth, you underestimate what us here in Talys can do!" Marth tilted his head, unsure if he had said something wrong or funny.

"I beg your pardon?" Mostyn's previous feelings of sorrow just moments before Marth had entered the room were now completely masked as his expression now showed a feeling of immense pride for his country.

"Believe it or not, but Talys is home to three professional wood cutters! Putting together modest housing is child's play for them! ...so to speak." Mostyn sounded off, almost appearing to be gloating.

"Professional wood cutters…?"

"That's right. Barst, Bord, and Cord. They are also some of our elite fighters serving under captain Ogma!" Marth nodded, bowing once more. After all of the pride that the king had shown, it would be a bigger insult to not take his offer.

"Thank you…"

"Think nothing of it! Actually, the three of them should be out cutting wood right now. Just tell them what you need and they should be happy to help." Marth nodded in understanding, Jagen, Cain, and Abel walking back to him to take his side as they prepared to leave.

"Shall we go now, sire?" The veteran knight asked, seeing as the meeting had been a success.

"Mhm, King Mostyn, thank you once more for everything you are doing for us!" Mostyn shook his head.

"It's the least I can do… oh that reminds me! Is there anything else I can do for you before you go?" As soon as he asked, Cain and Abel looked at each other as if having the same idea, gazing back at Draug, Gordin, and Norne, and then back at each other. Jagen caught on, sighing.

"You two have an idea, don't you…"

"Yes, I think if we are to be in Talys for a good few years, it would be unwise to let our skills go to waste." Cain began.

"That is why we think it would be a good idea if we had training grounds to make sure that the junior knights can not only complete their training, but so that we do not also lose the muscle we have built." Abel finished, their idea seeming to impress the veteran knight.

"That's… a good point, actually. Well done." Jagen praised, the red and green haired cavaliers a bit insulted by the gesture.

"Why are you so surprised, old man?" Cain spit out, clenching his fist. "It makes me feel like you're trying to say we're irresponsible!"

"I never said it." Jagen chuckled, the wide smile on his face enough evidence of his implications.

"Regardless of that," Abel interrupted before things got too heated. "King Mostyn, would this be too much of a burden to ask for?" Mostyn shook his head.

"Not at all. Ogma and his men can easily get that taken care of as well."

"Oh behalf of my knights, I thank you one last time." Marth said taking one last bow, Jagen a little impressed by the prince's quick grasp of the professionalism that was required of him now that his father no longer lived. He now led the group outside of the throne room, the king waving them out as they went.

"Sire, I'm impressed," Jagen complimented as they walked down the corridor.

"Impressed? What for?" The prince replied, turning to look at the veteran knight.

"Despite the events of yesterday, you seem to be doing just fine. The level of professionalism you displayed in front of the king was also ideal!"

"I see… well, I haven't forgotten. Not at all. I still feel the pain, but I do not want it to burden the rest of you." The prince paused for a moment before speaking once more. "There's actually a feeling I'm more concerned about, Jagen."

"And that is?" Marth stopped in his tracks for a moment, looking forward as the single word he spoke was filled with angst and almost fear.

"Hate."

Daylight began to show its early face as the prince and the knights marched to the forest, the environment of the island slowly becoming more lively along with it. The occasional villager outside of their home became a little more common and the chirping of birds filled the previous silence. However, one sound in particular that was extremely evident was the ever growing sound of an axe splitting deep into a log as the group got closer. The woods showed cleared signs of a master's work as a clear path was formed between a clearing of trees, an open area of sorts appearing to be at the end. Three figures could be seen in the distance, each of them rather tall and muscular. All three appeared to be male, two of them having plain brown hair while the other had blue, making him stand out from the others. These men had to be the three woodcutters that King Talys had spoken of. As they grew even closer, the blue haired woodcutter seemed to notice them, placing his axe down, looking up at the group.

"You guys don't look like you're from 'ere, ya visiting?" He called out, alerting the attention of the other two. His voice was thick with a certain countryside dialect, making it clear what kind of place the prince had found himself in.

"Uhm, yes," the prince began, "I am Prince Marth of Altea, and my knights and I will be taking refuge here for awhile… I apologise for the burden we must impose."

"Prince of Altea, huh? Guess that means another nation has fallen, but hey ya picked a good spot to hide. Hardly a soul steps on Talys for more than a few days." The blue haired woodcutter replied with a certain calmness that was reinforced with a little sarcasm.

"I suppose so…" Marth looked away, briefly feeling the pain of his father's loss once more.

"So, kid, what business do ya have with us?"

"Oh right," Marth looked back, returning to reality, "King Mostyn said we should find three men by the names of Barst, Bord, and Cord to help prepare us a place to stay." The blue haired lumberer smirked, gesturing to the men behind him too.

"Well ya found us! The name's Barst, and these two behind me are my brothers, Bord and Cord." The others waved with a smile, going back to their work.

"I see, it's a pleasure to meet you." Marth bowed causing Barst to laugh.

"Ya don't need to be so formal with me. Anyways, you said you needed a place to stay, right?" Marth nodded, a little flustered.

"Y-Yes. And if you wouldn't mind, my knights would like a place to train as well."

"Consider it done! Our captain 'ought to be returning anytime now from his latest job, so ya probably will run into him while we get this done for ya."

"You mean captain Ogma?" The prince asked, surprising the blue haired woodcutter.

"Yeah, exactly the same! How do you know about 'em?"

"The king spoke of him briefly. Anyways, what job was he tasked with?"

"Oh, ya know… his latest job as a sell sword." Barst answered, rubbing the back of his neck. Did he really not know? However, something didn't seem right. How could this Ogma guy be one of Talys' elite but also work as a mercenary?

"Your captain does mercenary work? I thought he was the leader of Talys' army."

"He is," Barst nodded, "Lemme explain it. Our captain, Ogma, is indeed the commander of Talys' elite force, but he also does mercenary work on the side from time to time. Worry not, his allegiance remains fully with Talys. In fact, me and my brothers usually go on jobs with him!"

"I understand now. Your captain seems rather interesting, I'll be sure to meet him once he returns. We'll be off now." Marth smiled, but truly inside his thoughts were still a blizzard of his emotions. Keeping them all pent up was beginning to wear on him. As they were making their way out of the forest, the prince suddenly stopped like he did in the castle hallway, turning to look at Jagen who was right beside him.

"Jagen, I wish to take a little walk around to get myself… familiar with the land here. Could you and the others allow me to be alone?" He requested, hoping that he didn't sound too harsh. The veteran knight seemed a little shaken by his request, but eventually sighed, nodding in agreement.

"Very well, just don't be too long. Oh, and don't get lost!" Jagen warned, but truly he knew he didn't have to worry about Marth doing either of those things. He was Cornelius's son, and to him that meant a lot.

"Thank you." Marth smiled weakly, remaining still on the path until all of the others had walked past him and were a good distance away, where he then proceeded to walk back into the forest, except not using the path that was made. The little bit of daylight that had been apparent on the island was now beginning to fade away as he walked deeper into the trees, the lack of sound around him going back and forth from shaking to comforting. All the while, he thought of his father, his mother, and his sister. All alone, yet he hadn't seen a single one of them taken from him with his own eyes. However, he knew it was foolish of him to assume they still lived.

He spotted a log in the distance that was covered with moss, but would provide a decent place to sit down regardless. As he sat down, he noticed that it was conveniently in a perfect spot to view a large opening in the woods, and even further beyond, the beautiful coastal waters of the island even from this distance. It was calming, in a way. That being said, it was not enough of a solace to distract him from the pain and grief continued to linger in his young heart.

"Why would Gra do this..?" The prince questioned, "Why would they betray us? Is Gharnef really such a manipulative force to where one can simply throw away their close ties? Is friendship really broken so easily?" A tear came to his eye as his questions continued to arise.

"How could they do something so evil, knowingly at that! To follow Gharnef makes them support what he does! H-How could they support such a waste of… innocent life? Grust as well… and Khadein… Is this world truly full of monsters?" More tears came to his eyes as the morality of everything truly sunk deep into him. He then thought of his family, shaking his head as he cleared his eyes.

"No, this world is capable of having those who stand up for what is right… if evil is truly so powerful… then…" Marth then recalled the conversation he had with his sister moments before the attack.

... "Is it possible to be so strong that you can save everyone?"...

That question echoed in his head. His sister denied the possibility, but... a king who could save everyone might be what the world needs right now. Maybe, just maybe… it could be him.

"If evil is so powerful… it just needs a hero that's even more powerful to protect the innocent… Maybe one day, I can become strong enough to save them all from dying, so that nobody else must lose their family like me…" All of a sudden a wave of drowsiness swept over the prince, and it wasn't long until he found himself laying down on the log and going off to sleep, his only surroundings the quiet indifference of the forest.

"Hello?" The voice of what sounded to be a little girl caused the prince to wake, his eyes slowly opening to see that he was still indeed in the forest, however the sun was brighter on the outside than before. How long had he been asleep?

"Hey!" The voice called again, the prince sitting upright in response, his eyes now met with those of a blue haired girl. When did she get here?

"Who are you…?" The prince asked, clearing his eyes as the light had brought a certain pain to them.

"Who am I?" She asked with a frown, now placing her hands on her hips. "The better question is who are you? This is my spot!" She pointed at the log that Marth had been laying on, evidently a little frustrated.

"Y-You mean this log?" He asked, a little afraid of the girl's commanding aura.

"Yeah! That's right! You at least need to get your own spot if you mean to come out here."

"O-Oh, I'm sorry. I didn't know this was a claimed spot, here I'll find my own." Marth got up immediately when the girl then stopped him.

"Hey. There's something off about you." She looked him up and down suspiciously, making the prince extremely uncomfortable.

"T-There is?" She began to walk circles around him, ignoring his reply.

"I got it! You must be a prince!" She concluded, proud of her own analysis.

"How'd you figure that out?" He asked, feeling as if he was being questioned for a murder from how pressing she was.

"Easy. That little tiara you have!"

"O-Oh… yeah." He replied, increasingly becoming more uncomfortable.

"So spill it! Where are you from?"

"Uhm, Altea, miss."

"Oh! So you must be Prince Marth! My father has spoken of you before!"

"Your father…?" Marth asked extremely confused.

"Yeah, you know, the king." She rolled her eyes, "Don't tell me you don't know him."

"I do know hi-" Marth paused, his jaw dropping a little. "...wait… does that mean… you're the princess?!"

"Yeah, that's how it works. Did you hit your head in here?"

"No, it's just…"

"Just what?" She pressed him immediately, not even giving him a chance to recover his words.

"Well, it's just that…" he looked her up and down as he spoke, trying to carefully choose his words. "Well you just don't seem… very princess like…?" The girl appeared offended by his words, clenching her fist.

"What's that supposed to mean?!" Marth shrunk back into himself, wanting so badly to just go back to sleep now.

"Well uhm, you're… very loud and… assertive, I always thought princesses were supposed to be gentle and elegant."

"So I'm not girly enough, is that it?" She questioned, crossing her arms as she frowned once more.

"M-Maybe…?" As he spoke he could see her become even more upset, "B-but I-I mean it's okay because you can still be charming in your own way!" He blurted out, attempting to save himself.

"You really think so?" She asked, all of her frustration seeming to leave in an instant. Marth blinked a few times, realizing it somehow worked.

"Y-Yeah. In fact, I'd say it's even a little… uhm cute…" he added, slightly unsure of himself.

"Awe you really think so?" She asked with a blush, "You're the first one to say that."

"...I wonder why…" the prince mumbled.

"What did you say?"

"Nothing! So, uhm, what's your name?"

"Princess Caeda! But you can just call me Caeda." She winked, causing Marth to shiver. Caeda, noticing his discomfort, sighed, "Come on, I'm only teasing."

"R-Right…"

"So Marth, what are you doing here in Talys?" She asked curiously, the question being more sensitive than she would have initially thought.

"Well… long story short, Altea was defeated in the war. Your father then graciously allowed us to seek refuge in Talys. So I thank you as well… you being his daughter."

"I see. Makes sense to me. I was wondering who those other knights were."

"So you have seen them?"

"Yep, they were actually looking for Prince Marth, funny how that turned out to be you!" She giggled, Marth at a loss for words as usual from her.

"Wait, they're looking for me? I must have slept too long!" With that Marth prepared to sprint out of the forest when Caeda stopped him, taking his hand.

"You'll get lost if you just sprint aimlessly. I can help you out." The hold of her hand was much more comforting than he would have thought given her attitude, but he didn't mind.

"Very well, lead the way." The two began to walk out of the forest together, and in such a quiet environment, he had to admit that Caeda actually did look kinda cute.

The afternoon moved on as the two royals walked out of the forest, hand in hand. Sure enough, as they exited, Marth could see Cain and Abel… except they weren't on patrol, rather they were sparring in what appeared to be a handmade arena of sorts, surrounded by all sorts of complex training equipment. Had the brothers already finished?

"I must have been asleep for hours…" Marth muttered, spotting Draug, Gordin, and Norne doing a little training too.

"I wouldn't fret too much about it." Caeda said shrugging it off. Perhaps she was right.

"Ah, there you are!" Called the voice of Jagen from a distance away, him rushing over to the two in an instant. "Where have you been, sire?" Marth became flustered, knowing Jagen would be upset.

"Uhm… sleeping." He answered quietly.

"Just sleeping?" The veteran knight was clearly confused.

"He's telling the truth, when I found him he was sound asleep." Caeda spoke up.

"So he was… Princess Caeda, you have my thanks for finding him." Jagen relented, backing away. "As you were sleeping, the woodcutters finished up their work. Quite nice for the time it took if I say so myself."

"I would agree. I'll have to thank them once more." Caeda then let out a yawn, a frown returning to her face.

"All of you land princes are the same: heavy on the formalities, and can thank and apologize until their blue in the face." Marth blushed, feeling called out by her observation.

"Isn't that how a noble should act, though? With respect?" Jagen watched the two converse, backing away.

"I'll leave you two be." The veteran knight said with a grin, happy to see that Marth had already made a "friend".

"Maybe, but isn't it tiring? A lot of people can't feel laid back around an overly uptight noble." Caeda argued, Marth pondering for a moment.

"But isn't it bad to be a bit too laid back? What if it lowers the confidence people have in their ruler?"

"That's just it," Caeda pushed forward, "The people." Marth wasn't sure where she was going with this.

"Yeah, what about them?"

"My father has a saying: A kingless country is a country still; but a king without subjects rules naught but hills." Marth thought for a moment, seeming to catch on. "Don't you see? Connecting to the people is the most important part of being a ruler. The people must be able to approach their king with comfort and reassurance. The best way to do that is to relate with them! Be casual, crack jokes, anything really!"

"Perhaps… but that's easier said than done."

"Don't worry, Marth. I can help break you in!"

"...I don't like the sound of that." He mumbled worriedly. All of a sudden, Caeda slowly walked closer to the training grounds, seeing intrigued in the two knights sparring.

"Hey Marth, come look at this." She waved for him, the prince reluctantly following.

"What is it?"

"Look at those two knights fight! Their blows seem to perfectly match!" She said in awe, watching it as if possessed.

"Oh, that's Cain and Abel. I hear that they are perfect as partners can be! Trained together, fought together, even raised together… it's only natural." Marth began to watch we well, but not as intensely. Silence followed as the two watched, Marth occasionally looking over at the princess. "Do you have some interest in watching battles, Caeda?" The prince asked, breaking the silence.

"What do you mean?" She replied, finally turning away to look at him.

"Well your eyes just seem glued to the action."

"Hmm, I suppose I do have an interest. I always like watching Ogma train, I've even picked up on some of his moves." She almost gloated. Yep, this sealed the deal. Definitely a tomboy.

"I see, somehow I expected that." He said in an almost teasing fashion, the princess evidently flustered.

"So what if I am?! It's not a big deal!" Something about all of this was humorous to the prince, him beginning to laugh a little which only fueled the fire. "You're making fun of me, aren't you?!" Marth calmed himself down, shaking his head.

"No no, I'm not." Caeda frowned.

"Liar. You're a boy, you've probably been trained to fight at least a little right? Why don't we go at it right now if you wanna keep laughing!" Marth suddenly stopped, going silent. He couldn't fight a girl, it was immoral.

"I do know a thing or two, but I don't want to fight you." Caeda looked annoyed.

"Why not?"

"Well what reason is there to? I'd rather not get ourselves dirty… and well, my father always said that a true gentleman never fights a lady." Marth answered, his face a little red.

"How very polite of you, though I think you're scared! You think you'll lose!" Caeda teased, it working very effectively.

"N-No! I just…"

"Prove it then." Caeda pressed deep into his conscience. If she wanted a fight, then very well.

"Fine, we'll fight. Just know that it was your idea." Marth groaned out, getting into a fighting position. Caeda did the same, smirking.

"That's more like it! I knew you were made of something tough! First move is yours!" She called out, clearly eager. Marth nodded, beginning to look for an opening in her stance, however, the more he looked the harder it became. He had never fought a girl before… where should he… grab her? These thoughts made him once more red in the face as he was indecisive about the fight as a whole.

"Come on! What's taking so long? I'm getting bored." Caeda whined, snapping Marth back into it.

"Fine! Fine! Here I come!" He called before charging right at her, planning to deliver a punch right at her which she then dodged with ease.

"A lot of power, but not fast enough." She teased, causing Marth to lash out with a second punch which she also dodged.

"Come on, you can do better." She teased again.

"Alright, I'm done warming up, it's time for the real deal!" Marth shouted in frustration, rushing at her once more, Caeda this time ducking down and tripping him as he ran by, causing the prince to fall to his face.

"Boring. Let me show you how it's done." Caeda taunted, waiting for Marth to stand back up. He knew he was being humiliated. She began to charge towards him at enormous speed, him hardly able to throw out a punch to intercept her, but just like before she dodged it easily, grabbing both of his arms while she did before pulling them behind his back, causing him to groan in pain.

"Ow! No fair!"

"Wanna give up?" Caeda asked with a smirk.

"You wish!" Marth shot back, forcefully shaking her off of him, turning around to face her once more. It was already too late. Caeda was charging at him with full speed once more, delivering a fast and precise punch across his face, followed by a few other quick jabs before he could even react. As Marth now struggled to keep balance, Caeda moved in one last time to finish it, hitting him across the face with a swift roundhouse kick, him collapsing in the dirt.

"Man, that was brutal." Caeda teased, Marth struggling to look at her.

"So… fast…" He groaned out weakly. Caeda giggled.

"You know Marth, you're pretty fun. Feel free to rematch me anytime!" She then walked away, leaving the prince to wallow in the uncomforting soil. He had just been humiliated, beaten by a girl in a fight. So much for his chivalrous outlook.

"There's… no way I'll be strong enough to save the people… if I can't even win one fight against some princess…" He groaned out, taking heavy breaths. "That Caeda…" Marth's painful expression slowly changed to a smile, slowly picking himself up. "She's something else."


	5. Chapter 5: Rivals

The Prince had picked himself off the ground from the beating he had taken earlier from the princess, still a little embarrased by the whole event. However, something about her stuck with him. It's not like he hated her for it, rather it was a nice learning opportunity for the young lord. Not once did he ever think that a princess would ever carry herself in such a way. So sassy, so adept in combat, and most of all, so boy-like. If not for anything else, that surprise made the entire experience worth it.

Hoping to not be seen by his knights in such a condition, though, Marth was picking his route carefully. They were just a few bruises and scrapes, but he can't imagine the humiliation he would get from Cain or even Abel if they found out a girl beat him up. They wouldn't show it, but would think it all the same. It was then that a blonde muscular figure was approching him in the distance, seeming to be alone. As the figure grew closer, it became more apparent that he was someone of incredible strength, looking as if he could snap the boy in half with ease.

"Are you prince Marth?" The male asked as he was still a few yards away, the blue haired youth stopping in his tracks. Was he going to get another beating? What did he do?

"U-Uhm, yes. D-did you need something?" He asked extremely unsure of himself as the towering figure walked ever closer before halting just before the prince, its shadow practically covering his entire body and the ground around him.

"Well, the princess informed me that she had just won in a fight with a prince from another country, so I assumed it to be you." The blonde figure then smiled as he got a good look at Marth's light injuries. "And I can see that she didn't exactly have mercy." The prince frowned, sulking his shoulders.

"You mean she's already spreading it around?" He whined, ready for the whole island to know of his loss. The figure shrugged.

"As far as I know she's only told me. Oh that's right, I'm Ogma. King Mostyn may have spoken of me." So this was Ogma? It did make sense. He looked really strong after all.

"He did, he informed me that you were the captain of Talys's elite."

"More or less. I'm also princess Caeda's personal guardian." Marth's eyes widened, trying to imagine this towering figure as a guardian of the princess of a country. Though it did make sense a little given who said princess is. She also did mention that she studied how Ogma fights... perhaps he was not too sharp to put two and two together.

"I see. I would normally be surprised, but given how Caeda acts, I suppose it makes sense if she's always around you." Marth said with a sigh, gazing up at Ogma to see him tilt his head with a puzzled look on his face. It was then that the prince realized what he said was rather rude to both him and the princess, beginning to sweat profusely. "U-Uhm not to say that's a bad thing, I wasn't trying to be rude!" Ogma simply smiled now before letting out a soft chuckle.

"You don't need to worry about that. The thing I found confusing is how you think the princess was influenced by me." Now Marth was the one confused. What was he getting at?

"What do you mean?" Ogma now turned, beginning to walk in the other direction, gesturing for the prince to follow.

"Let's take a little walk."

"O-Okay!" Marth almost tripped over himself as he stammered forward to keep up with the mercenary. After a few moments of complete silence, Ogma spoke once more.

"You see, ever since I met the princess she's had this kind of... attitude about her. The same kind she has now." He spoke slowly, seeming unsure on how to properly portray the meaning of his words. The prince could follow well enough, though.

"You mean she's always been this way?" Ogma nodded.

"Sure has, ever since she rescued me from my life as a gladiator one-two years ago." Marth's ears perked up at his words. He supposed it did make sense that he was a gladiator given his build and likely battle prowess. However, he was even more intrigued by what he meant by "saved".

"She 'saved' you?" Ogma nodded once more, keeping his gaze forward now.

"I remember it clearly..." He murmured as his mind began to replay the event...

* * *

"How dare you help one of my star fighters escape?!" Cried out the unsettling voice of a male as a club came crashing down onto the head of a muscular blonde who was ridden with blood and scars. This was Ogma. A sword then slashed at his face as two whips aggressively clashed against his ribs and back, the blonde haired male letting out a groan of pain. However, he never spoke a word.

"Hmph, do you still not understand the weight of your actions?" The male placed the flat end of his sword under Ogma's chin, forcing him to look up into his eyes. "We beat you to near death again and again, and yet you still do not understand the wrongs you have committed." The gladiator's eyes narrowed as blood trailed down his face, finally beginning to speak between heavy breathes.

"I... see no problem ... in my actions... Samuel is a good man... he deserves to be free and follow his heart... every time you torture me... it only makes me more happy that I helped him... because if it wasn't me... it would be him... I regret nothing... it's the same answer you'll always get from me-"

"Silence!" The man hissed before beating him across the face, causing the bloody gladiator to fall to the ground, unable to even hold himself on his hands and knees. "First you set him free and now you're speaking of him by name as if he's an actual person! Don't make me sick! You two aren't people, you're filthy animals who kill each other in a pig pen that we call an arena. The fact that you could ever even think that there's anything human about you is disgusting!" Ogma shook violently, unable to hold back his rage.

"Shut up! How dare you call us the animals?! Do you think we chose this life?!" Tears began to form in his eyes that mixed with the blood. "We all had families once, but when we had nowhere else to go... fighting was all we knew how to do! The real animals are creatures like you who get off to watching people suffer like this for money!" The man began to growl, the other man preparing to lash out on the beaten gladiator, this time aiming to kill.

"That's it! You have tried my patience for the last time! This time, you die!" The man cried, whips and clubs crashing down on Ogma in rapid fire, him hardly able to groan in pain before the next strike. He closed his eyes and truly felt like he was going to die here, but really her accepted his fate. He hated to admit it, but the man was in reality partially correct. While he wasn't an animal, he let himself practically get turned into one. Now, he would die as one. How pitiful...

"Stop this!" Cried out the voice of a little girl, causing the wave of strikes to suddenly cease. Ogma slowly opened his eyes once more to see a little girl through his blurred vision. She couldn't be any older than 6 or 7. Who was she? Behind her was a taller man who appeared to be of royalty. However it didn't matter if Ogma did not know who they were, for the other men seemed to as they stepped down.

"Ah, King Mostyn of Talys! What can I do for you today?" The younger version of the king stroked his beard before answering.

"I simply could not stop my daughter from coming back here. She was insistent on seeing some of the fighters, however it seems we're interrupting something." All the while, the little girl who happened to be Caeda was staring into the eyes of the bloody Ogma, almost seeing through him. Something was wrong.

"Father, I think those men are trying to kill him..." She said as if already at the brink of tears.

"What! Preposterous! We are simply punishing him. He misbehaved." The man answered, a drop of sweat forming on his forehead. Caeda shook her head, brashly running over to the beaten Ogma.

"Caeda! Wait!" Mostyn called out after her, but she wouldn't stop.

"You rotten men lie! I can see it in his eyes! You're torturing him!" Ogma's eyes widened in amazement as the man became angered. Who was this little girl? Did she truly wish to put her life at such risk? Did she not understand the dangerous situation?

"Please forgive my daughter, she often speaks a little harsh to others without thinking it-"

"No! Father! Can't you see? Look at h-him! H-he's suffering!" Caeda stubbornly knelt down and held out her hand, touching his forehead gently.

"Little girl, I would advise not to touch that beast. He could kill you in less than seconds!" She didn't listen, staying right by him. Ogma rose to where he was sitting upright, gazing at the girl. "I won't warn you again! Stand back now and let us finish this mad dog!" The man hollered as he got even closer.

"No!" Caeda cried before hugging the bloody and beaten gladiator. "You won't hurt him! He didn't do anything wrong!" Ogma simply remained in shock, even his mind unable to focus. This girl was not the least bit afraid of him! In the girl's embrace he felt comfort, a kind of comfort he had never felt in his life. One that told him everything would be fine. For the first time he could remember, he felt safe. It was then that the king had made his decision.

"I must agree," Mostyn interrupted. "In a state like that the man can hardly even walk, much less fight. If I am not mistaken, sir, another gladiator of yours escaped awhile ago. It would be a shame if it turns out a reason for said escape would be abusive tendencies like we see here, wouldn't it?" The king spoke sharply, sinking deep into the man with each word.

"I-I..." The man was unable to respond. He knew he had lost. Mostyn shook his head in disappointment.

"So it's true. I have no choice, then. I will hearby take this warrior out of your hands so that he may be restored to proper health. I can tell it is what my daughter wants as well. Now that I know what really goes on here, do not expect me to be a viewer of your games any longer."

"Father!" Caeda cheered with a smile, keeping her embrace on Ogma. "Do you hear that? You won't have to be tortured anymore! My father and I are saving you!" She began to tear up, and as he gazed down at this spunky yet gentle spirited princess, Ogma could not help but do the same, except unlike her, his tears came in a flood. Starting today, he would be a word he could never have imagined himself saying... Free...

* * *

The prince's heart turned as he listened to Ogma retell the event in absolute awe. Caeda did all of that for him? So brash yet touching...

"Wow... I can't believe it..."

"She truly is one of a kind, isn't she?" Ogma turned to look down at the prince with a faint smile, and even then, Marth swore he could pick up on the faint mark of freshly dried tears on the former gladiator's face.

"Yes... indeed." Marth agreed as the mood returned to normal.

"Well, I'll be off now. It was a pleasure." The blonde mercenary began to walk away with a wave, leaving the prince to sort out what he had just heard on his own. It was at this moment that Marth's objective had changed. He no longer was embarrassed about his loss, she was worthy of the win. Now, only his determination to prove himself to her remained. He began to make his way over to the training grounds, hoping that Jagen would agree to train him. It was the only way he could possibly get stronger at this rate.

"Draug! Did you see that shot?" Gordin cried out as his arrow dug into one of the targets A perfect bullseye! Draug glanced over at his friend, taking a brief break, and analyzed the position of the arrow as well as Gordin's stance, sighing.

"You're still too slow." He replied bluntly, turning his attention back to his own training, which entailed the armor knight attemtping to block as many strikes from Jagen as he could.

"What did you say?! I hit it right on the mark!" The junior archer replied in frustration.

"You need to keep practicing." He replied as blunt as before while blocking a strike from Jagen, moving quick to block yet another.

"You big lug!" Gordin yelled once more.

"He has a point, Gordin." Jagen interrupted. "You took far too long to aim your shot. While it is great to be completely accurate, a shot that is a little off the mark but comes out twice or even tripple as fast will usually be the shot that makes the difference between life and death. Time is important." Gordin sulked back to his position in silence, knowing both of them were right. He took a moment to glance over at Norne who was firing and reloading about once every 5-8 seconds, consistently hitting the ring on the target right outside of the black dot. A little less accurate... but much faster.

"I'll show them..." He grumbled. "I can shoot in 3 seconds!" He quickly took out an arrow and placed it on his bow, merely eyeballing it before releasing. "I did it!" The arrow flew right passed the target, completely missing it, before bouncing off of a tree, killing the moment before it even began. "...I thought..." He muttered, walking to retrieve the arrow in shame, causing Draug and the veteran knight to sigh in disappointment.

"He always let's his emotions ruin his performance." The armor knight spoke out loud while blocking another strike, causing Jagen to halt his blows.

"Perhaps we ought to train him to keep composure, then." The veteran knight suggested in a serious tone to the surprise of Draug.

"Are you serious? Composure and Gordin don't belong in the same sentence, sir."

"That may be, but there's always room for improvement. Wouldn't the pay off in execution be worth it?"

"I suppose," Draug admitted. "I've seen him shoot when focused, he's not bad."

"Then perhaps it's worth looking into. Here, you can take a break. Tell Norne that she's welcome to break as well." Jagen placed his training weapon down and went over to Gordin. This wouldn't end well. Draug took a seat on a nearby log, Norne seeming to overhear Jagen as she placed her bow down and took a seat next to the armor knight.

"So, how has your trainin' been?" She asked trying to make conversation.

"Oh you know... training..." he replied a little awkwardly, looking at Jagen begin to scold Gordin in between shots.

"So about your friend..." Norne began as her attention shifted as well.

"Don't mind him," Draug cut in abruptly. "He's just a little insecure. He usually gets like this when he feels a need to prove himself. Basically he feels like you'll replace him." Norne raised an eyebrow.

"Me? Replace him? Where did he get that idea?" Draug kept his eyes focused ahead of him as she asked this, trying to hide a small blush.

"He thinks I... I... have a..." He trailed off trying to find the right word. "An... interest! Yes! An interest in you!"

"An interest...?" A blush began to form across Norne's face as well as she asked this.

"Y-Yeah... why would he think that, right?" Draug asked nervously with a small chuckle, Norne following suite to ease the tension of the situation.

"That sure would be crazy wouldn't it...?" She added uneasily. Whether or not he had an interest in her, she did know for sure she felt at least a little something for him. Was she too obvious? Is that why Gordin thought this?! Her mind was a lot more active than her words, becoming less attentive to her surroundings. "S-So does that mean you don't?" She asked worried, wondering if she should just give up now.

"Huh? W-well, I wouldn't say that... I uhh... have never really thought about it! Anyway, point is, Gordin's a little jealous." Draug recovered the situation before it got too out of hand.

"I understand." Norne replied as Draug's lack of a blatant "no" recovered some of her senses. A silence returned as the tension faded. "You say this as if he does this often." Norne broke the brief silence.

"What? Get insecure? For sure."

"Does it get annoyin'?"

"Everytime. Bu-"

"I know," Norne cut in. "He's your friend so you put up with it." Draug was taken aback for a moment before nodding.

"Yes, exactly right," He began. "See, in our time so far of training to be knights, we've been all we have. We didn't really fit in with any group of friends, so we were outcasts by default. But it was because of that fact that we became fast friends, partners. Besides, he does a good job at hiding it, but he left his little brother behind when he escaped Altea. He must be worried sick, which is why I need to do my best to make sure he's himself. He's got my back and I got his." A nostalgic looked appeared on Draug's face as he spoke, showing an immense amount of truth in his words. Norne smiled softly, resting her hand on his.

"You're a good friend, you know? A lot of people in this world need your kindness. He's lucky to have it from you..." She spoke softly, whether she was referring to a specific person or not being unknown to the knight. Regardless, his words were never more true than now. He really was all Gordin had.

After a few more shots, Jagen seemed to allow Gordin a break as he placed his bow down.

"Good work today, you three. Deep inside, I know all of you have the ability that will win us back Altea one day!" He praised, not bothering to stop Cain and Abel who were doing their own thing. It was at this point that Marth was finally right outside of the grounds, listening in on the conversation.

"Tomorrow, you will all be completing an elaborate training exercise with equipment and combat dummies that the Bord, Cord, and Barst were so generous to supply us with. I will further explain the details of said training before we begin. Understood?"

"Understood." All 3 junior knights replied with a nod.

"Very good, Cain and Abel will be supervising you all since I will take that time to train the prince myself."

"Wait!" Marth called out, stepping out from behind a tree. "I want to partake in the training exercise!" The four of them turned to look at the prince, not aware that he was there the whole time.

"Sire! You're back! Wait, where did you get those bruises?" Jagen asked with concern.

"Nevermind that! I want to train with the knights tomorrow!"

"But sire, the course is a bit too advanced for you to tackle as of right now. It's designed for knights who have been training their whole life!"

"What about Norne?" The prince pointed out. "She just started her official training today, so how come she can? I've had a decent amount of training from my father."

"That's true, but-"

"Jagen, is it not important that I be strong enough to carry Altea's victory as well?" Jagen looked away, beginning to run out of excuses.

"Yes, but to start here is... not the right way!" Marth shook his head, not even budging an inch.

"I feel like you aren't telling me something! What's the real reason?" Jagen sighed, knowing he was losing this battle.

"Sire, I find it rather improper that a future heir will train alongside his knights. At least, not from the ground up."

"That's what this is all about?" The prince was now frustrated. "What difference does it make who I train with? It feels wrong to have my knights work harder than me to get my own country back! If I were to train by myself then..." Marth thought on what Caeda said about a ruler who was approachable by the people, one who is a friend rather than a master, "Then I have already failed as an heir!" Jagen was appalled, the other three watching with intrigue.

"Sire! Explain yourself!"

"If I am to succeed, my people must feel at ease! I must know what it's like to live like my people if I am to know rule them! I do not want to be so professional that there's no attachment!"

"Prince Marth..."

"Jagen! Please, train me with the other knights! I want to be a friend to my allies, and... training alongside them is a good way to do that. My people trust me so I must trust them! If I do not have the people what do I have?" His words shook all four of the others there, and after a moment of silence, Jagen's expression changed from one of astonishment to pride as a smile slowly crept on his face.

"Sire... where did you get all of these ideas? Your father would be proud to hear such a mature resolve!"

"Where? From a princess, a princess I am not afraid to admit I lost a fight to!" Even as Marth answered proudly, a tiny blush could still be seen on his face as he admitted this.

"You got beat by a girl?" Abel asked as Cain and himself were walking over, his tone more of genuine curiosity than judgement.

"She's not just any girl!" Marth retorted. "She's a princess, and a special one at that..." Cain smirked, chuckling as the prince said this.

"Sounds to me like sire's in love. It only took one day." He laughed to himself, Marth becoming deep red in embarrassment.

"I-it's not like that!" He cried out as Cain walked away amused. Guilty or not, the knight couldn't help but find humor in this situation.

"Nevermind Cain's muses," Jagen said clearing his throat. "You have swayed me, sire. Very well, you will be training with the others from now on." Marth lit up, excited to hear it would be so.

"Truly? Thank you so much, Jagen. You won't regret this!"

"I would hope so. Your training starts tomorrow. Until then, how about we get a look at where we will be staying?" The veteran knight suggested, receiving agreement from all who were there.

"I know I for one am rather tired after training, so a good rest would be nice." Abel added. And with that, they were on their way to their quarters, Marth's head still spinning with the events that had transpired so far on that day. While walking, Cain's teasing words about his feelings had stuck with him for some reason. Him in love? There's no way, he was just a boy. Besides, they just met. He respected Caeda as a... rival of sorts, nothing more. How could he feel any different? However, try as he might, he could not get her out of his thoughts for the evening.

* * *

Marth and the knights had arrived at their makeshift quarters and settled in by sunset. Abel was in the process of cleaning up their dinner he had made over a fire. Despite being trained as a knight, he was quite skilled with cooking. It was then, that Cain had come out to assist his partner with his current duties.

"Need a hand?" The red haired knight asked, looking over at the assortment of pots and other cooking utensils. Abel studied his friend before accepting the help, still remembering the outburst he had as they escaped Altea castle. He hid it well, but the panther was not fooled by his plastered on expression. Cain was hurting, and he knew it.

"King Mostyn was sure nice to welcome us in like this, huh?" The red haired knight began a little small talk, picking up a few utensils off the ground.

"Indeed," Abel replied, tending to the slightly alive fire. The red haired knight began to clean the utensils in hand, however his expression showed something else was on his mind.

"I'm not gonna go easy on you like I did today again, you know. Prepare for my worst tomorrow!" With this, Abel had heard enough, small talk was never Cain's thing.

"You know, Cain, this whole change in... lifestyle is going to be hard on all of us," Abel began, Cain's eyes becoming fixed on the ground. "You don't need to rush it, you can take time to let the wounds heal."

"Let my wounds heal?" Cain questioned, his stare unchanged, "Abel, these are no mere battle wounds. These are wounds on my honor, no my duty, as a knight! They cannot simply be healed, they are eternal scars on my soul." As his red haired partner spoke, Abel noticed no sort of passion or heat in his words. Only shame, his voice not even raising an octave.

"I see, then... pardon me for assuming." Abel backed down, returning to his work. Cain looked over at his partner, his expression an uneasy one.

"Don't worry about it, I'll be fine." He forced out with a fake smile. The dying light of the fire was quite fitting in this moment.

Meanwhile, Marth laid in his quarters, the events of that day staying deep in his conscience. It had certainly been a long one, but it was filled with its own excitement. It would be the first of many days he would spend in Talys, the place that would become a second home to him. Still, even with what happened, he was still unable to forget the pain. He knew that he could never grow too comfortable with this life, for one day he would have to leave it to liberate his home. But would he ever be ready? Time would tell, it seems. There was no guarantee, but the least he could do was try. Training alongside his knights tomorrow would be a great stride in doing so. With his goals and a certain someone in mind, the prince found himself dozing off before coming into a deep sleep...

* * *

The early morning sunrise coated the soil of Talys in a warm light as it slowly swept over the island. Today was the second day that the prince and his knights would spend here, it also marking the first day of Marth's training. As the knights were waking up, Ogma, Barst, Bord, and Cord were in the process of setting up the training course after hearing word from Jagen about their plans the night before. It wasn't much, but the different elements of the exercise would use all the space of the training grounds. Dummies, wall climbs, rope swings, and even more, it would be a rather brutal test for trainees so young such as the prince and the others. However, it would be a huge and meaningful step forward in all of their training if they could prove victorious.

"Captain, how old's that prince?" Barst asked as he positioned a training dummy into place. Ogma rubbed the back of his neck, not sure himself.

"I don't know. However, I think I heard his majesty say he was about the same age as princess Caeda..." He trailed off, Bord and Cord dropping the supplies to build the wall as they calculated the age in their heads.

"Captain, we're putting this together for an eight or nine year old?!" Bord sounded off, surprised.

"Are we sure this is a good idea?" Cord added, picking up his dropped supplies. Ogma sighed, shutting his eyes.

"It's not our call, those knights in training aren't much older either. I'm sure that Jagen guy knows what he's doing." The blonde mercenary said in a way as to put a stop on the conversation all together. And it did, as the other three got back to work in understanding.

With this, the course was promptly finished and ready to be used as the prince was getting dressed back in his own quarters. He had been awake before anyone else, or so he thought. Anticipation was eating away at him, he could only hope he was prepared.

"Prince Marth, are you awake?" Called Draug from the other side of the door.

"Yes I am," Marth replied, "Has Jagen already left to scout out the course?"

"Yep," Replied a squeaky voice, showing that Gordin was right next to Draug. "Cain and Abel went ahead too, so just Norne is outside waiting for us. Not my fault. No girls allowed in this cabin!" He stood with his hands on his hips, delivering that last line with a little bit of sass and authority, as if it was the coolest thing ever. Draug rolled his eyes, letting out a sigh.

"I see, I'll be just a moment." The prince assured in a slight panic. He didn't want to hold everyone up, especially after he had gotten up so early. Not on his first day! He knotted his boots before coming to the door, opening it to find that Draug and Gordin had not left their position.

"Sire, by your leave." Draug sounded, both awaiting his orders. Marth shook his head.

"You guys can leave without my permission. As far as training goes, starting today we are on equal ground." The prince reasoned, receiving a reluctant nod from the other two. They made their way out of the cabin, seeing that sure enough, Norne was waiting.

"Took you long enough, I thought I'd be waitin' all mornin' for you." The pink haired archer teased, placing down the stick she seemed to be amusing herself with.

"Sorry about that, it's my bad." Marth apologized politely, beginning to march up the path without saying another word. Perhaps a step to being more approachable was to have less of a special presence? If so, he hoped this would prove to be a way that he could do that.

Regardless, the four of them arrived at the training course, Marth wide eyed as he gazed at the complex arrangement before him. It seemed to be more intense than he could have imagined, but he couldn't back down now.

"Ah, you four finally made it." Jagen greeted, walking out in front of them. They remained silent, studying the course. For Gordin and Draug it was nothing too surprising, but this would be Marth and Norne's first time ever doing something like this. The pressure was setting in. The veteran knight could sense the tension, smiling faintly. "I hope you all feel rested, because this course will no doubt exhaust you by the time of its completion. Given how quiet you are, I asusme you're ready to jump right in, no?" The veteran knight asked. Still silence.

"Uhm, what are the rules...?" Norne asked very unsure of herself and the response she would receive.

"Glad you asked," Jagen began, "Go through the course as it appears. First, you will all run through the path of training dummies. Whoever knocks the most down, and I will know who you are, gets 5 points. Second, we will be testing your speed. There are a series of walls set up for you to climb up and over. First one done, gets 5 points. Third, you will swing from a rope over a puddle of mud. Whoever has the smoothest landing gets 5 points. Lastly, you will perform a sprint to the finish where you must treck through coming debris. Naturally, first one to the finish gets 5 points. Depending on your score, you will get rewarded or punished. 2nd place in all of these gets 3 points, 3rd gets 2, and last gets 1. Understood?" The four nodded slowly, trying to take in everything he had just said. In simple terms, the better you performed in each stage, the better your total score would be. Seemed easy enough to understand. The veteran knight then walked away, giving the four a chance to prepare.

"Don't be afraid to do better than me," Marth said to the others simply, clearing his throat. He didn't want the others to hold back in fear of humiliating him.

"You don't have to tell me twice," Gordin replied, "I don't want whatever punishment Jagen has for who gets last."

"That's what you're worried about? I don't see how a little clean up duty could be any harder than this." Norne remarked, intimidated by the challenge ahead of her.

"It is worse when you have the old man breathing down your neck the whole time! I can't concentrate like that! I'd be scared if I were you, there's no way Draug or I will lose!" Gordin boasted to the girl.

"With that mindset he's as good as gone..." Draug murmured to himself. The prince looked over at the armor knight in training, noticing how his face lacked any sort of nerves at all. The challenge was mostly based on speed, being trained to be a shield, was he not worried that he would be at a disadvantage? Maybe he was just so skilled that speed wasn't an issue. At this time, Jagen came back around to announce the start of the challenge.

"Are we all ready to go? Well I shouldn't be asking that because the challenge is starting regardless of if you are ready or not."

"I suppose we are," Marth answered, "I aim to prove your decision to let me train like this was a good one."

"I look forward to it, now line up and get ready!" The veteran knight sounded off, standing at attention by a line that was clearly marked as the start point. The junior knights and Marth did as asked, the air becoming dense and heavy as they all gazed at one another. No words were spoken, only silence filled the area. It was time to get focused. It was then that Jagen began to count off.

"Three... Two... One... Start!" He yelled, all of them taking off in an instant... except one, that being Draug. The prince was a little confused. Had he given up knowing his speed would be a hindrance? No, it couldn't be. He seemed so calm.

"Prince Marth!" Jagen called out, "Keep your eyes forward! Pay no attention to the progress of others, it will only slow you down!"

"R-Right..!" The prince looked forward again, spotting a training dummy right ahead of him, preparing his sword for an attack, splitting right through it. "I cut it down!" He thought excited, continuing forward. Meanwhile, Norne was firing arrows at an impressive speed, piercing many dummies around her. As if ignoring Jagen's warning to Marth, Gordin was extremely focused on Norne's progress, self conscious of his own performance.

"Hmph, show off. I'll show her how you really fire an arrow!" Gordin stopped in place, pulling back his bow intently to strike a dummy, extremely focused. As he was about to release, another arrow went right into the dummy he was aiming for, Norne running right by him.

"Sorry, you were taking too long!" She giggled, leaving the male aggravated.

"Nuts! That one was mine! Draug, can you belie- hey Draug?" Gordin stopped himself mid sentence as he turned to see his friend still at the start line. "Draug? Aren't you gonna start?" He shouted back to him, Jagen raising an eyebrow.

"Draug, even I must agree you have been draining your time, do you intend to go?" The veteran knight questioned. It was as Marth had taken out another dummy that he slowly nodded.

"Yes, I was simply planning out an optimal route. My apologies." He confessed, preparing to take off. All of a sudden he broke into a sprint at high speeds, much faster than any of the others had ran, picking off dummy after dummy, not wasting a single between each strike from his lance. As he practically flew by the prince he was left speechless. How was he so fast? Wasn't he training to wear heavy armor? Marth's thoughts were a mess. Watching as the green haired junior knight was cutting down every dummy he went by, it became clear. Draug wasn't giving up, he was simply planning the optimal way to win! Of course! As if completely one sided, Draug then finished in first with the most dummies hit and fastest time, followed by Norne, Marth, and Gordin in last.

"Congratulations to Draug, I must say I was rather impressed to see your methods of winning. You were truly brilliant." Jagen praised. "There is a lesson to learn here, being that the winner is not always the one who goes first. Sometimes it is important to take your time for the optimal outcome."

"Well that's Draug for ya!" Gordin said with a smile despite his current condition. "He always did surprise others with his speed, to be honest I don't know why I was worried for him!" Norne looked over at Gordin curiously, in awe herself at the performance of the armor knight in training.

"Gordin, you might know this... but if Draug has such a talent in running, then why train to wear armor?" The pink haired girl asked. Marth listened in as well, wondering this himself.

"Ah, of course I would know! Draug and I are best friends, so I would know a lot more about him than you!" Gordin bragged to the girl, her rolling her eyes.

"I know, that's not what I asked about..."

"Well I guess I can tell you! It's rather simple. To be a well rounded fighter!"

"Well rounded fighter?" Norne questioned, not fully understanding what he meant.

"I think I know," Marth cut in as he walked over to the archers. "In the different books I have read about battle, they put an emphasis on the importance of a fighter to be able to adapt to situations. I assume Draug feels he will accomplish that by being quick on his feet but also having an impenetrable guard?"

"That's right!" Gordin replied, "I knew the prince would be smart enough to get it, unlike this girl here!"

"I have a name, you know...?" She replied softly, Gordin not paying it any mind.

"I see... it seems Draug won't be easy to beat..." Marth nodded to himself, identifying him as the prime competition.

As the next stages of the training began to play out, the young princess appeared with Ogma by her side, hoping to get a good look at the action.

"I'm surprised you wanted to get up so early in the morning just for this, princess." Ogma rubbed the back of his neck, Caeda shrugging as her eyes became glued to the event.

"Well ya see, I want that prince of Altea to get stronger so we can fight again! I've always wanted to have someone my age to play with, and I think he might be the one!"

"Er, why is that?"

"Simple. He's the first boy who has given me a compliment!"

"Uhm, your highness, I'm not entirely sure it's fair to fault others for tha-"

"SHH! They're moving again!" As the princess cut him off Ogma let out a sigh, shaking his head.

"I sure hope his majesty King Mostyn is right... At this rate she might never became a proper lady." He mumbled, inaudible to the ears of the princess.

The training carried on, Draug once more finding victory in the wall climb and rope swing, it all up to the final sprint to the finish for who the big loser would be.

"As it stands now, Draug is in 1st, Norne is in 2nd, and Marth and Gordin are tied for last with only one point behind her! Somehow I predicted this outcome..." Jagen announced, causing Gordin to flare up. Cain and Abel took a break in their sparring to stand by at the finish to give their opinion in case the winner was close. Meanwhile, from a distance the princess frowned, wanting better from Marth.

"This is disappointing... I expected better from him. I figured out fight would have given him more determination than this!" Caeda whined, almost taking it as an insult.

"Then maybe you should motivate him?" Ogma suggested. The princess nodded, cupping her hands around her mouth.

"Hey Marth! I just want you to know that if you lose I'll be very upset!" She yelled, it instantly catching the prince's attention.

"H-Huh?! C-Caeda?! How long has she been watching?!" The prince blushed hard, his heart sinking with embarrassment. The stakes were much higher now. Not only did he have to prove himself to Jagen, but now to his little self appointed rival as well!

"You didn't need to be so direct, you know?" Ogma sighed.

"Well it got his attention didn't it?" She giggled.

"Sire, is that the princess ya fought with earlier? She is kinda cute, so I can't blame ya if she makes ya feel-" Norne began, Marth cutting her off.

"You have it wrong! I-It's not like that! W-We're just friend- er, rivals!" He stuttered, only making it worse.

"Yep, definitely sounds like first love to me..." Cain murmured.

"Sire, regardless of the reason, if her presence is a distraction to you, I can politely ask her to leave." Jagen offered.

"No, it's okay. Let her stay!" The prince got a grip on himself, staring at the finish line. It was a short, but intimidating distance. He was more determined than ever to not get last.

"Very well. If that's all settled, then everyone line up and get ready for the final test!" Jagen announced, tension filling the air. This was it. Marth had two options. Jagen's chores and humiliation, or somewhat filling victory. The ladder sounded more appealing. As soon as Jagen finished the countdown, Marth sprinted the fastest he has ever remembered, even faster than when he tried to escape Altea. He didn't bother taking in any outside surroundings, focused on making it to the goal before at least Gordin! He looked to his sides, not seeing anyone around him, smiling. This was it! He was gonna win! He turned to look at Caeda, and it was then that he tripped mere feet in front of the finish line, face planting into the dirt. Draug and Norne were close behind, passing him and crossing the line as he wallowed there.

"So princess, what do you think?" Ogma asked, Caeda remaining silent. Finally, Gordin passed him, stopping to let out a cheer of victory.

"Yes! I don't have to do clean up duty!" He cheered in happiness. However, even as he laid there, the prince's eyes remained locked on the finish line, it so close even now. He slowly began to crawl towards it, gathering all the strength he had to make it there.

"Gordin, I wouldn't get so cocky, you still haven't crossed the line." Draug rolled his eyes.

"Huh?!" But it was too late, Marth sliding his hand across the line, earning himself 3rd place after all!

"And with that, Gordin gets last, making him last overall!" Abel announced.

"N-No! You can't be serious!" Gordin whined, dropping to his knees in defeat. "I don't want to do Jagen's chores! It's not fair! Wh- Ow!" Jagen smacked the back of his head as he walked by, evidently disappointed.

"Once again you got too cocky, Gordin. The moment you learn to get ahold of yourself is the moment you can quit doing clean up duty!" Jagen scolded, offering Marth a hand. He took it, slowly pushing himself up.

"Sorry for that display, I aim to do better." The prince mumbled.

"Quite the contrary," Jagen began, shaking his head. "You ran quite fast, and although a drift in your focus caused you to trip, I am still impressed with your overall performance. That goes for you two as well!" He said, looking at Draug and Norne. "Altea has been blessed with great warriors these past couple of generations, and I know it will be no different for you four... and that of course includes you, sire."

"Thank you for your kind words, Jagen, but I really don't deserve it." Marth sulked.

"Nonsense, it is the first day of training in Talys! I think all of your performances call for a celebration!"

"I agree! Perhaps you should all join my father and I for a feast at the castle tonight?" Caeda announced, walking over to the group. Marth looked to his side, a bit embarrassed.

"Is that really alright, princess?" Jagen questioned in surprise, receiving a firm nod.

"Yup! Besides, dinner is usually boring, it would be nice to have company!"

"I humbly thank you. Dinner will be held at the castle tonight. Gordin, since I am in a good mood, you do not need to attend to your punishment duties until after the meal."

"I appreciate it..." Gordin replied with a weak smile.

"That ends today's training! You can all relax and spend the rest of the day as you see fit!" With that, the knights all left to spend their time at their own discretion, leaving Marth at the course, wincing at his cuts and bruises as he sat on a log.

"You didn't do half bad!" Caeda said, taking a seat next to him.

"You mean other than tripping?" Marth replied with a faint laugh.

"Well, I never said it was a perfect performance, but you did run pretty fast. I could tell you were determined, and... that made me kinda happy." She confessed with a blush, doing the same to the prince.

"I-Is that so? Well I didn't want to disappoint my rival."

"You mean me?" She questioned, her blush remaining. "Well I suppose I could be worse." In truth, she kinda liked the sound of that. She had never had anyone respect her like that before, especially a boy.

"Princess, your lessons will be starting soon. We should be leaving." Ogma reminded her, sticking around to wait.

"I know! Well, I'll see ya tonight!" She then left, leaving Marth to himself once more. He let out a sigh, feeling a bunch of weight lifted off his shoulders. He didn't do completely horrible today, and Caeda wasn't unimpressed... so perhaps that was a win!

"So she accepts me as her rival, huh? Well now I have to get stronger! She's expecting me to rise to her equal, so I can't let her down!" He tightened a fist, ever determined to beat her and prove himself. For now, though, he would rest.

* * *

Later that evening, the prince and his knights were on their way to partake in the dinner they were invited to, all looking forward to it.

"Abel, you may be a good chef, but it's not everyday a knight can enjoy a meal like this!" Cain shouted with excitement, his green haired partner frowning.

"We all know that, you don't need to point that out. You're lucky this chef has high patience."

"H-Hey, I wasn't trying to offend you!" The two knights began to bicker back and forth, a sight that the prince didn't know was possible.

"I know what you're thinking," Draug began, "With them being renowned battle partners they should get along perfectly, right? Well enough time training with them around shows you they aren't always in sync."

"I-I see." The prince replied, stopping at the gate to the castle, the guards proceeding to clear the way.

"You are all here by Mostyn's invitation, correct?" One guard asked.

"That we are," Marth answered, following them down the corridor towards the dinning room. The doors slowly opened, a large table with all sorts of food laid across it coming into view. It was a feast that all but Prince Marth himself had not experienced before! Already seated was Mostyn himself and Caeda as the food was just waiting to be consumed.

"Take a seat and help yourself, warriors of Altea! Consider this your full welcome to Talys!" Mostyn greeted, all 7 of them wasting no time in doing so, Marth conveniently seated right across from the princess.

"Thank you for having us, your highness!" Marth bowed his head, causing Caeda to giggle.

"You don't need to say thanks, it's already a given! Just eat your food before it gets cold from all your professionalism." She teased, not hesitating to dig into the meat before her.

"Caeda! You needn't be so rude to the prince! My apologies, Marth, my daughter is still not well versed with her manners." Mostyn scolded, causing Marth to grin. Just earlier the princess was yelling at him about how he was too formal, and even if he did need to loosen up, he couldn't help but take joy at the irony of her being scolded for doing the opposite.

"It's alright, I'm sure she was just teasing, right Caeda?" Marth replied politely, laying out a cloth before picking up his utensils in a civilized manner. Caeda frowned, knowing now that the prince was trying to show off.

"Yeah, that's all it was." She said bitterly, beginning to eat her food with distaste.

"Is it pretty tense in here or is it just me?" Gordin asked between bites, Caeda proceeding to shoot the junior archer a nasty glare that cut through all of his young masculinity, giving him all the reasons he needed to stop talking. The feast carried on mostly normal, the tension between Marth and Caeda growing ever more as Mostyn was continuously impressed by the prince's manners in comparison to his daughter. As of now, everyone was finishing up the main course, getting ready for the dessert that would come next.

"Man that was some pretty good food!" Cain remarked with satisfaction, the other knights agreeing.

"I appreciate knowing that you all enjoyed our welcome. Now I hope you all saved room for our dessert." Mostyn smiled, noticing the sheer amount of food that had been eaten.

"If you were smart you would! The dessert is the best part!" Caeda added while chewing, much to the displeasure of her father.

"Caeda, how many times must I remind you to mind your table manners? I know I am raising you better than this!" He scolded, her frowning once more.

"Sorry..."

"You should try to be more like Marth, here! I can tell he is Cornelius's son in his manners and behavior! He will grow into a fine young man if he keeps this up."

"Please, King Talys, I am not deserving of such praise." Marth replied humbly, using his cloth to wipe his mouth with class.

"Ah, but when compared to my daughter I believe you do! There is a limit to how relaxed a noble can be until they become a mere slob who will never grow into a mature adult. You should take this as a lesson, Caeda. I can only hope that some of Marth's manners rub off on you." The princess nodded and remained silent, even as the dessert was being passed out. After a few moments, Caeda pushed her chair out without even touching her food, moving towards the exit.

"Please allow me to excuse myself..." She said quietly. Marth watched her intently, a pain beginning to form in his chest.

"Hm? Caeda? Where are you going?" Mostyn asked concerned, receiving no answer as she left the room. "Perhaps I went too far..."

"King Mostyn, don't blame yourself," Marth added, "I am partially to blame for attempting to aggravate her. Please allow me to go after her." The prince excused himself, receiving approval from Jagen before grabbing Caeda's dessert and leaving.

"To be honest, I'm surprised you let him go for trivial reasons." Abel remarked to the veteran knight.

"Trivial? Ah this is far from it. By the looks of it, this is a personal matter he must resolve." Jagen explained.

"Personal, huh? Well if you say so."

"Come on, Abel, it's obvious our prince is crushing on her." Cain rolled his eyes.

"You know, for once you might be right." Abel chuckled.

"What do you mean for once? You trying to say I'm stupid?"

"Guys, I don't think it's right for us to be talkin' about sire like this. Ain't it a little rude if it ain't true?" Norne questioned.

"Once you get older you'll understand the importance of gossip like this. Keeps a man entertained when there's nothing else to do." Cain shut his eyes, leaning back against his chair.

"I never would have guessed that The Bull would be interested in such things. Here I always thought you were famous for your intense focus on battle and the task at hand." Draug said in amazement.

"Hey now, even a prison warden's gotta have a little fun every now and then." Jagen sighed aggressively at this response, turning his focus to Mostyn.

"Sorry if the childish behavior of our knights is a bother to you."

"Think nothing of it," the king replied, "In fact dinner is usually quite boring nowadays. This is a nice change of pace."

"Yet if you don't mind me saying so, your daughter's behavior is still something you worry about given this?" Jagen questioned.

"I don't mind at all. Truthfully, I am concerned about how she will turn out as a lady. I fear she may never grow up and find the balance in her behavior that is expected. I have her attending classes in hopes of correcting some... issues, but I worry it is not helping much. Much like her mother and I, her heart is too big to be contained by her homeland, and her spirit too wild in the same manner."

"Is that part of why you chose to unite the islands and form Talys?"

"Partially, yes. I had a vision that was bigger than my upbringing, but more importantly I felt it needed to be done for the sake of all around me."

"Then perhaps princess Caeda is destined for something greater than Talys."

"Maybe so, however her duties as a princess must come first. The sooner she realizes what is expected of her, the better. I firmly believe her time with Cornelius's son will only benefit her."

"I must agree." Jagen smiled, returning to his dessert.

* * *

The prince looked around the castle halls searching for the princess with no success.

"If I don't find her soon her dessert is going to spoil... maybe she's outside." He thought to himself, it being the only nearby place he had not yet checked. Sure enough, there she was, sitting on the sand of the near coastline with her legs hugged against her chest, staring at the water.

"Caeda!" He shouted after her, running towards her while being careful to not drop the food. "Hey, are you feeling alright?" He asked panting, sitting down next to her. No answer. "I brought you some dessert, figured it wouldn't be a good idea to let it spoil." He added, holding it out for her. With this, she turned her head to look at him before quickly smacking him across the cheek.

"Jerk." She pouted, knowing what he was up to the whole time.

"Yeah, I deserved that. Well, are you going to eat? You seemed pretty excited for it."

"Maybe later..."

"Alright." Marth backed down, yet he remained sitting there with her, not budging an inch.

"I really don't get you." She poked, disrupting a brief silence.

"Huh? What do you mean?"

"Most boys my age that I have met have always found me weird, yet you don't. Why do you talk to me? Is it to make fun of me?" She asked bitterly.

"Now why would I make fun of you?" The princess sighed.

"You said it yourself earlier. A princess is supposed to be all formal, pretty, charming, well behaved, and graceful. I'm... not that. I always get into fights, I wear the clothes of commonors, I have this bossy and commanding attitude about me that gets even those who don't like me to do what I say... I'm a fraud compared to the princesses you know."

"Yeah? And? You made me realize that it doesn't matter if you're a bit different. It doesn't matter if you aren't into the same things as other girls. When I called you charming in the forest, I'll be honest, I didn't really mean it. Though, now I think your differences from other girls truly make you more charming. Basic is boring."

"M-Marth..."

"Come on, where's that confidence you had in yourself earlier? I used to think my sister was as brazen as princesses could come, but I'm glad I was proven wrong." He said with a smile, one slowly creeping on Caeda's face as well.

"Basic is boring, huh? I like the sound of that!"

"There's that smile I knew was hiding. I'm glad to see you back in high spirits!" Caeda then giggled at this, causing Marth to blush.

"What's so funny?"

"You need to make up your mind. Am I your rival or are you going to be nice to me?" She giggled some more, the prince shrugging.

"Well, can't I do both? If you are to be my rival, it's important that you keep improving as much as I do, right? That wouldn't be possible if you beat yourself up like this!"

"I suppose you're right. Though for me, I admit I could stand to touch up on my manners... even if just a little. There's a lot expected of me as a princess, and manners is one of them."

"Well then how about as our duty as rivals, while you help loosen me up, I help you become a bit more refined? Seems like a good deal to me!" Marth offered.

"Doesn't that defeat the point?"

"Not if one of us succeeds first!" Caeda grinned, holding out her finger.

"Alright then! Let's swear to be rivals and see who can learn the most!" Marth nodded taking her finger.

"I look forward to seeing the results! I hope you don't disappoint me!"

"Me? I'm more worried about you!" She giggled, finally taking a bite of the dessert Marth brought her. The two shared a couple of laughs as it got later into the night before another silence consumed them. In the midst of the moon's reflection, the scene was like that of a fairy tale, Caeda finally speaking up one last time.

"Hey Marth?" She asked shyly, a blush coming to her face.

"What is it, Caeda?"

"Promise you won't laugh, okay? You're the only person I trust enough to tell this to." She looked serious, the prince nodding immediately.

"I promise."

"Well, I may not seem like it, but... I absolutely adore wedding dresses."

"H-Huh?" Marth was dumbfounded, never guessing in a thousand years that this would come out of her mouth.

"All the girls look so beautiful when they wear them, like angels as they are ready to spend their life alongside someone who means more to them than anything." She confessed with embarrassment.

"Caeda, you continue to amaze me. I would have never guessed a girl who's into fighting would be so in love with the idea of weddings and marriage."

"T-That's not weird, is it?" Caeda asked with concern, getting all hot inside.

"I don't think so. It's cute to know that you have a little feminine side after all."

"C-Cute? Y-You think it's cute?" She asked, becoming even more red.

"Yeah. Hey, why do you care so much about what I think anyway?" The prince asked, that question alone seeming to shake her to the core.

"I-I don't know, I'm just curious!" Yet another silence settled in, this one much more awkward than the last. The princess cleared her throat, getting a grip on her embarrassment. "Marth, uhm... do you ever think I'll get married?"

"Sure, why not? Do you think you won't?" Caeda shrugged.

"I don't know, I just wonder if anyone could ever love a girl like me..."

"I'm sure you'll find someone. As your rival, it's my job to make sure you succeed in that task! I'll be with you every step of the way."

"You'll make sure I succeed...?" She murmured, smiling softly "Thank you..." And thus fate presses onward for the Altean prince, these days in the small island of Talys sure to shape the books of history for years to come. There is so much to do left with uncertain outcome. Will he reclaim his homeland or will he fail? The doors are wide open as the world forever carries on...


End file.
